State clears media houses to cover Moi prayer service
Government Spokesman Cyrus Oguna holds a press briefing at his Nairobi office on January 4, 2020. He has announced the media houses that will cover Daniel Moi's prayer service. PHOTO | FILE | NATION MEDIA GROUP
What you need to know:
- The government declared February 11 a national holiday to allow Kenyans to mourn the former Head of State.
Several media houses that had earlier been blocked from reporting live the national prayer service for former president Daniel arap Moi at Nyayo National Stadium were later allowed to cover the event.
In a statement on Monday, Government Spokesperson Col (rtd) Cyrus Oguna announced that only KTN, KBC, Ministry of Defence and the Joint Production team would be allowed to cover the live proceedings Tuesday.
Col Oguna later clarified that private media houses had not been barred from covering the event. "We would like to clarify that the advisory does not bar private media houses from covering the service. Due to the anticipated numbers and subsequent constraints of space, we identified four production units to provide live coverage of the event," he said in a statement.
In the earlier statement he said: "It is only the crew and equipment of the four production units that shall be allowed into Nyayo National Stadium.”
Mr Oguna had said other media houses would acquire live feeds from the accredited units.
“For other media houses, arrangements have been made to acquire live feeds from the accredited production units. Still photography, on the other hand, shall be shared by the Presidential Strategic Communications Unit (PSCU),” he said.
The government had earlier declared February 11 a national holiday to allow Kenyans to mourn Moi, who ruled for 24 years.
Kenyans thronged Parliament Buildings on Saturday, Sunday and Monday to view his body.
