Kenya: CORD leader Raila Odinga has condemned information black out slapped on KTN, Citizen TV, QTV and NTV and demanded explanation from the Jubilee Government.
Raila said the government had thrown the entire country into information darkness.
He accused Jubilee Regime of being unwilling to arbitrate between a foreign firm and local, home grown media houses over the distribution of digital frequency signals.
“Today, the Jubilee regime has thrown the entire country into information darkness. Those with no access to the expensive pay TV will never know what is going on in government and with fellow citizens”, Raila said.
He added: “We are witnessing abdication of responsibility by a government on a scale never witnessed in our history. The abdication of responsibility is a result of the government being hell-bent on protecting private interests in which its key members have interests, at the expense of the interests of the public”.
The former premier further said Jubilee must explain what interests they have in keeping Kenyans in information darkness and asked Kenyans to demand their right to information.
“The Jubilee regime must learn and accept that Kenyans have seen the light and shall never agree to be taken back to darkness. We stand for the right to information and we will stand with Kenyans in demanding this basic right”, the CORD leader said.
He quoted the adage “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” in reference to the current situation.
The Communication Authority of Kenya forced KTN, NTV, QTV and Citizen TV out of analogue broadcasting on Saturday afternoon, leaving over 90 per cent of Kenyans staring at blank screens.
The broadcasters’ analogue transmitters located in Limuru were shut down even before CA reinstated digital frequencies for the media houses.
On Friday, a 7-judge bench ordered the authority to restore the frequencies, which it had annulled following a complaint by pay TV providers Star Times and GoTV.
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