KENYA / MEDIA / POLITICS: Kenyans decry proposed bill that will allow the government to raid or close media houses

Record ID: 361367

  • Title: KENYA / MEDIA / POLITICS: Kenyans decry proposed bill that will allow the government to raid or close media houses
  • Date: 15th December 2008
  • Summary: MAN READING A NEWSPAPER
  • Embargoed: 30th December 2008 12:00
  • Keywords:
  • Topics: Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA3UK3XFEKKH69SGVWLFBTDE3QC
  • Story Text: Kenyans have expressed opposition to a new bill that would give the government the right to raid or close media houses at anytime, jeopardising the country's current reputation of free press.
    Activists say the bill, which was passed on December 10 but still needs President Mwai Kibaki's signature, violates democratic standards by allowing heavy fines and jail terms for press offences.
    Several local journalists and civil rights campaigners were arrested during demonstrations against the bill at Independence Day celebrations on Friday (December 12).
    The bill and the arrests drew wide condemnation from media watchdogs as well as a majority of the Kenyan public who see it as a threat to the freedom of the press.

    "I think it's not in order, because in the past we have seen these big people do things that without the media, the common man would not have known. What I mean is that they would like to see their excesses not exposed, that's what it would amount to if the media bill is passed," said David Mwaura, a Nairobi resident.
    Kenya maintains tough press laws drafted during the Moi era, when many journalists were arrested and tortured.
    Despite new press freedoms introduced under Kibaki, who succeeded Moi on a reformist platform in 2002, many Kenyans fear a retreat to the repressive tactics Moi used to silence critics.

    "I don't think they should have the power to do that because it would be denying us Kenyans the right to say something, I mean the media has our voice. If they are denied that what are we going to do about it then?" said Martha Lewis, a Nairobi resident.
    Kenyans have become increasingly frustrated with their leaders, first over delays prosecuting the masterminds of the deadly post-election turmoil, and then by the refusal of members of parliament to pay tax on their generous allowances.
    High food and fuel prices, the media bill, and the arrest of protesters have all stoked tensions in the nation of 36 million people that became independent from Britain in 1963.

    "If the president consents to this bill, then I think we are going to really lose a lot of the gains that we have achieved so far," said Linda Ochanda, a Nairobi resident.
    In a separate statement, press rights watchdog Reporters Without Borders denounced the bill as "particularly draconian" and warned it would set a negative example "which the predators of press freedom in Africa would undoubtedly exploit".
    Masked police armed with automatic rifles raided Kenya's second biggest media group mid-2006, the Standard Group, forcing its television station off the air for 12 hours and burning copies of the Standard Newspaper.
    The raid came two days after police arrested three journalists from the paper over a weekend story on political intrigue in President Mwai Kibaki's fractious coalition.
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