Top security chiefs ordered TV shutdown, says Joe Mucheru

What you need to know:

  • Mr Mucheru on Tuesday told the Senate Committee on Information and Communication Technology that he did not have answers because the blackout was “a national security issue.”

  • Instead, he asked MPs to seek answers from the National Security Council, chaired by President Uhuru Kenyatta.

The National Security Council, which President Uhuru Kenyatta chairs, was behind the shutdown of three TV stations in January, ICT Cabinet Secretary Joe Mucheru said Tuesday.

Mr Mucheru told the Senate committee on Information Communication and Technology that his ministry had nothing to do with the shutdown, saying the matter was a national security issue beyond the scope of his docket.

RAILA 'OATH'

He had been summoned by the senators to explain why the Government switched off NTV, owned by the Nation Media Group, KTN, which belongs to the Standard Media Group, and Royal Media Service’s Citizen TV for airing live proceedings of Opposition leader Raila Odinga’s “swearing-in” ceremony as the people’s president. The stations remained shut for 10 days.

“The shutdown was a national security matter that the ministry cannot explain. It is a matter that the National Security Council can respond to,” Mr Mucheru told the senators yesterday, adding: “I am not going to give more information on that matter before this committee.”

The committee, led by chairman Gideon Moi (Baringo), Enoch Wambua (Kitui), Malachi Imana (Turkana), Samuel Poghisio (West Pokot) and Ms Abshiro Halakhe (nominated), pressed on, challenging the CS to explain the specific national security threat that called for the shutdown. 

“I will not answer the “who and why” of the shutdown because I am not the one who did it. I am also not authorised to discuss security matters in the glare of the public. When the council invokes its actions, it is not me to respond. It is about the country’s security,” Mr Mucheru said, adding that the matter was pending in court.

NATIONAL SECURITY

The stations were blocked from the paid and free-to-air platforms before Mr Odinga took his 'oath'.

“You are hiding behind the cloak that this is a national security issue but you’ve got to understand that we represent the people who were denied their right to access information for 10 days. The people want to know what caused the ugly and unfortunate shutdown,” Mr Moi said.

Mr Mucheru said: “I have been clear that the council is the one that took this decision and I am not authorised to speak on its behalf.”

Other than the President, who is constitutionally required to preside over all the council’s meetings, its other members include Deputy President, Cabinet Secretaries for Defence, Foreign Affairs and Internal Security.

Others are the Attorney- General, the Chief of Defence Forces, the Director-General of the National Intelligence Service, and the Inspector- General of the National Police Service.