Citizen TV and Inooro TV back on air, 10 days after they were switched off

Citizen TV and Inooro TV of Royal Media Services are now back on air, 10 days after they were switched off by Government.

The Communications Authority of Kenya switched off national TV channels; KTN News, NTV, Citizen TV and Inooro TV for defying a directive not to cover the live ‘swearing-in’ of Opposition leader Raila Odinga on January 30 at Uhuru Park.

The media shutdown sparked an uproar in the country, with several opposition leaders saying the move was political.

Royal Media Services Chief Operating Officer Farida Karoney was nominated by President Uhuru Kenyatta as Lands CS and is slated to face vetting panel.

The TV channels have been switched on just a day before contempt of court proceedings against CS Matiang'i and CS Mucheru commence at the High Court.  

The media shutdown in Kenya was widely covered by world’s top international media.

Al Jazeera reported that the TV networks were gagged ahead of Raila’s “inauguration”. It reported that authorities took the independent broadcasters off air over plans to cover the ceremony.

The AFP reported that Raila’s supporters gathered in Nairobi ahead of a ceremony to swear him in as an alternative president, while the Government cracked down on the media.

The international news agency reported that the planned “inauguration” three months after an election Raila claimed was stolen from him had sparked fears of violence.

“The Government has come under fire after the Editors Guild revealed media managers had been summoned by President Kenyatta and warned not to broadcast the event live,” AFP reported.

Reuters, a wire agency, reported that authorities shut down private TV and radio stations as Raila’s supporters gathered in a Nairobi park where he was due to take the presidential oath in an act of protest.