Raila says Jubilee government plotting to muzzle media

NAIROBI, KENYA: CORD leader Raila Odinga has accused Jubilee government of plotting to gag media by denying KTN, NTV and Citizen TV frequencies.

In a statement, Raila noted that one outstanding feature of the Jubilee Administration has been the effort to control and muzzle the news media.

“The current farce over the distribution of digital broadcast frequencies is clearly a continuation of that attempt to punish and control the local news media,” he said.

“I urge the people of Kenya to remain reminded of the words of James Madison: “A popular government, without popular information or the means of acquiring it, is but a prologue to a farce, or a tragedy, or perhaps both.”

“We are rushing in the direction of farce, tragedy and collapse, through what is clearly an ill-informed effort to consolidate power and business by curtailing and controlling media freedom. We ought to stop,” Raila noted.

He called on the people of Kenya to stand up and demand fairness at the very least, when it comes to information and the means of accessing it.

He at the same time urged the Jubilee Administration to recognise that the business of news and information is a delicate affair that carries destiny of nations. “It must be treated as such.”