Kenyan media has too many enemies

Going down memory lane for as long as I can remember, politicians in Kenya have had an issue with media. My research reveals that all the past governments and even the current one has had a jab on the media. Various attempts over time have been made to gag the media. It is worse for the media when it exposes some rot in the system or rubs the rulers the wrong way.

Yet without a robust media the many positive changes that have occurred in this country in the spheres of politics, economy, business, law, technology, social, lifestyle and so on, would not have occurred. The media has been instrumental in the democratisation process and the birth of changes in the legal framework particularly in the realization of the new constitution. Without a robust media it is very likely Kenya would have been among the banana republics that are strewn in this world and Africa has storage of a quite a number of them.

This is not to say that the media has been without blemish.  Far from that. There have been media practitioners who have been agents of distortion, corruption and propaganda machination to the detriment of the public. Like any profession (remember we have had issues with many of them including Doctors, Engineers, Lawyers, Accountants etc.)  It has its own rotten apples.

Indeed there are those who thrive on skewing information and obviously one of the main Kenyan diseases of tribalism also has some residence there. This however does not mean this important facet of life should be destroyed. A society without a free media is doomed to self-destruction and failure. Just look around the world and observe countries that are in fear of themselves or are allergic to positive change – media has been a big casualty there.  If you have nothing to hide let the media do its work. If you have something ominous you want to do or have done, then it is convenient to gag the media.

That MPs are finding it necessary to curtail media freedom is something to ponder. Yet these politicians are so dependent on the media to propagate their agenda or political opinion. They want their cake and still eat it. There is an element of dishonesty here. Nonetheless if they strongly feel there are bad elements in the media that want to spoil their work, there are already laws of libel and defamation to fix them. But passing such a curious law shows we have a situation problem. There is so much to hide in Kenya it so seems.

If reporting corruption for instance is a crime then we should glorify the vice as one of our national values on the way to our own self-destruction. MPs need not fear the media. Use the existing laws ruthlessly and they will weed out the hyenas in the trade just as in professions need to be eliminated.

Miscarriage of justice happens not just in the media. If you research just a little bit on many professions in this world you will see scary wonders. Indeed the malpractices across profession happen in many societies and ours has a growing notoriety. However mechanisms of strong self-regulation and other established laws if enforced properly can tame the rogues.

Harrison  Mwirigi  Ikunda

Researcher and consultant

The Writer is also a  CEO of a Significant Business Membership Organization, Trustee of several Ngos – some outside Kenya, and is mainly based in Kenya.