Kenyans thrown into open-ended media blackout with state crackdown on media

Matiang’i has failed to state what law was broken to warrant continued shutdown of broadcasts

Kenyans have been thrown into an information blackout for an unspecified period as the State makes good its threat to clamp down on independent media outlets.

This follows a ministerial order given on Tuesday through the Communication Authority of Kenya to cut the link between television outlets and distributors – including government-owned Signet.

The Kenya Broadcasting Corporation owns Signet, whose officials were directed to switch off the transmission links from the various television stations.

Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i yesterday said the State had started investigations to determine if media houses committed any offences that informed the closure.

No timelines were given for the investigations, leaving the fate of millions of Kenyans who rely on the media outlets to get to information at the mercy of the State.

Shut down

“Accordingly, the government took a decision to shut down the concerned media houses, until further notice, as it launches a full investigation into serious breach of security,” Dr Matiang’i said, yesterday.

An open-ended ban affecting the main TV stations opens wide the possibility of a prolonged media blackout on the platform that, according to available data, is the most widely accessible source of information for most of Kenya's households.

Recent statistics show that television was the main source of information for more than five million households.

Matiang’i claimed that some unnamed ‘elements’ in the media helped the Opposition coalition in the symbolic inauguration of its leader, Raila Odinga, as the 'people’s president' at Uhuru Park, Nairobi, on Tuesday.

A senior manager with a major media outlet termed the shutdown as intimidation to muzzle free press and a violation of citizens’ rights to information.

In response to Matiang'i's claims of aiding criminal activity, the manager, who sought anonymity for fear of retribution, said it was routine for media houses to report on all incidents, including crime.

“We and other international media houses covered the terror attack at the Westgate shopping centre for days, and that was a crime of international significance, yet we were not gagged,” said the manager.

Further, the manager said, there had not been any independent determination on which law had been broken in the media's handling of Raila's 'swearing-in' that has also been described by critics as 'political comedy'.

Criminal group

Matiang'i did not state the kind of help media houses had extended to Raila and his National Super Alliance (NASA), a day after he termed the affiliated National Resistance Movement (NRM) a criminal group.

It is in connection with the NRM ban that the CS termed the 'swearing-in' as an attempted coup that would have led to what he described as a massacre of catastrophic proportion involving a wide range of forces.

He claimed that the media houses were complicit in a “well-choreographed attempt to subvert or overthrow the legally constituted Government of the Republic of Kenya”.

Shortly after making the statement, Ruaraka MP TJ Kajwang, who donned his full lawyer's regalia and stood behind Raila during the ceremony, was arrested by officers from the Flying Squad unit.

The decision to shut media outlets continued to draw heavy criticism, with many arguing that it was contrary to Article 34 of the Constitution that bars the Government from controlling the publication and dissemination of information.

“The media performs an essential role in any democracy by providing access to information and covering issues of public interest, particularly those related to governance and elections,” said Article 19 - a British human rights organisation that promotes freedom of expression and information globally.

The Media Council of Kenya, through its chief executive, David Omwoyo, said it was shocking that a political contest had been turned into a threat and assault on freedom of expression.

“It is deeply regrettable that for the second day running, TV channels remain switched off by the Communications Authority of Kenya,” said Mr Omwoyo.

Basic rights

The Kenya Editors Guild had earlier expressed its disappointment with the shutdown, terming it a violation of basic rights.

The chairman of the Political Journalists Association of Kenya, Isaac Ongiri, warned that Kenya was fast sliding into dictatorship.

“We wish to remind the State that Kenya is not new to such actions orchestrated by public servants and government functionaries on the path to turning Kenya into a dictatorship and sustaining fear while undermining our supreme laws,” said Mr Ongiri.