Kenyan journalism at its knees

25 Ministers out of the full cabinet of 222, have passed a draconian bill.

The bill that gives the Internal Security minister powers to raid media houses and disable media equipment, says The Daily Standard .

The 25 MPs ignored numerous calls  for the deletion of Section 88 of the Communication Commission of Kenya Bill.

Itl also allows the minister to seize broadcast equipment and shut down media when he believes they threaten national security during an emergency, says Standard.

The Bill now awaits presidential assent to become law. During debate, Internal Security Assistant Minister Simeon Lesirma was put to task to explain who raided The Standard Group in March 2006, Daily Nation reported.

This was the most vicious onslaught by State operatives in independent Kenya.

This prompted Speaker Kenneth Marende to order Mr Lesirma to bring to the House an adequate response next week.

MPs justify move as reported on The Daily Standard.

Information Minister Samuel Poghisio opposed substantive amendments of the Kenya Communications (Amendment) Bill, reassuring the house that the Government has no intention of raiding any media house.

“We do not raid stations any more and the Government has no intention of doing so”.

Mr James Rege (Karachuonyo, ODM), the chair of the Parliamentary Committee on Energy, Communications and Transport, proposed that the offensive clause be deleted from the Bill.

But Defence Assistant Minister David Musila defended the clause, saying a state of emergency is a temporal measure and those aggrieved should seek redress in court.

Local Government Assistant Minister Robinson Githae and Mr Martin Ogindo (Ragwe, ODM) said the House had no intention of gagging the
media, but “means well for the media”.

“The minister has assured me that the raid would only happen when there is a state of emergency. It is only the president who declares a state of emergency. We mean well for the media,” said Mr Githae.

Media Owner cry fowl

In the proposed law, the Communications Commission of Kenya will set the standards, manner and time of programmes to be broadcast.

The Bill will now be fine-tuned before it is forwarded to the President for assent so that it becomes law.

Media owners and lawyers have criticised the Bill, saying it gives CCK and the Internal Security minister immense powers.

The Freedom of Information Bill repeals the Official Secrets Act so that Government officials can disclose vital information to the public, says The Daily Standard.

Who will fight for journalism this time round?

A day after a draconian law allowing the Internal Minister to raid media houses and stop transmission during a state of emergency, journalists and activists are organising peaceful demonstrations.

Last year when a section of the same bill was passed, demanding that journalists reveal their sources if prompted to, members of the opposition came out in numbers to fight it.

I was a member of the Inter-committee that planned and successfully carried out a silent demonstration in protest of the clause that would gag the media.

We matched in the streets and around Parliament twice, with our mouths tied with black cloth to symbolize what the bill, if passed with the controversial clause would do to the media.

The next day we attended the Government’s Spokesman briefing spotting the same black cloths on our mouths.

Fortunately, the President H.E Mwai Kibaki refused to sign the bill into law and returned it to parliament for amendment.

Where are the MPs who fought for Press Freedom last year?

MPs from the opposition, who are all now in government, came out in numbers in protest of the bill.

The current Prime Minister, who was the leader of the opposition leader then, promised members of the fourth estate that they would not allow the government to gag the media.

He went on to call the bill a draconian law taking us back into the years of dictatorship that Kenya had managed to step out of after electing a new President after 24 years.

The funny thing is that all the Mps in the opposition then, in the photograph above, came out strongly supporting press freedom.

What is different now? Does joining the government in a government coalition change the importance of press freedom?

Is the government gagging the media today not steps back into dictatorial leadership?

Publicity stunt it was

In my opinion, when they came out on the streets to support press freedom, it was all a publicity stunt to win Kenyans to vote for them in the Presidential elections that were less than five months away.

If I am wrong, why did any of them not reject it when it was passed yesterday?

Saying they were not present when it was passed is too weak a defence in my opinion.

Failing to attend Parliament sessions is equally as wrong as passing biased bills.

Human beings forget really fast

”Am really sorry am… , looking at her watch, 1 and a half   hours late Susan, I was cooking” *Mary Smith said.

“It’s okay. At last you are here that is what matters”, I said.

Less than one week later, I was late for today’s shoot.

“You are late! You are really late! We are 20 minutes late!” Mary Smith wearing a stern face.

Mary Smith and my other group memeber, who also kept me waiting before our previous shoot, were visibly angry with me.

Surely, does it take such a short period for people to forget! Less than a week?

In the nick of time

Fortunately, my group members and I made it for the interview last not without a couple of ups and downs.

We left campus 2 hours later than scheduled and minutes later, the car’s GPS failed.

There we were, not only late for an interview but withtotally no idea where the office we were headed to was located.

We got to the town and had to stop over and ask for directions. Fortunately, we made it there 30 minutes before the office’ official closing hour.

We rushed out of the car and into the office, apologised and quickly started setting up the cameras.

“Give me the tape please,” I said.

There was total silence in the room.

“You should have told me to carry it,” Mary Smith said.

All set but …

You guessed right. Yes. We had no tape. We asked the interviewee to give us a few minutes to go purchase one at a nearby Tesco.

The traffic was unbearable, pin drop silence filled the car. Eye contact was also deliberately avoided.

At this point, my hope for making it on time started running out.

Fortunately,we got tapes and managed to get back 30 minutes before the deadline he had given us.

We hurriedly set up the camera again and on we went with the interview.

Indeed, proper preparation is a virtue but moreover, people forget really fast.

*Mary Smith has been used to maintain annonyminty.

Kenya’s Premier renews calls against President Mugabe

Prime Minister Raila Odinga wants the African Union to send a peacekeeping force to Zimbabwe, The Standard reports.

Raila criticised African leaders for condoning President Robert Mugabe “as if everything was normal.”

He said millions of people were suffering because of Mugabe’s tyrannical rule.

Raila, who was reacting to Mugabe’s refusal to grant visas to former UN chief Kofi Annan and former US President Jimmy Carter, said there was need for intervention in Zimbabwe.

The PM said peace talks in Zimbabwe had collapsed because of Mugabe’s inflexibility.

“The fact that Mugabe was a freedom fighter does not give him rights to own Zimbabwe and hang on to power,” said Raila. He spoke at Wilson Airport on arrival from Mombasa, on Sunday, The Standard reports.

“Mugabe is not willing to share power with Morgan Tsvangirai, but wants to monopolise instruments of power. This is the problem in Zimbabwe,” he said.

Calls on other African countries

Prime Minister Raila Odinga has renewed calls to the African Union to act tough on President Robert Mugabe, Standard reports.

Raila said the AU should compel Mugabe to put in place a coalition government.

“It hurts to see the AU watching helplessly as Mugabe continues to run down Zimbabwe. The AU should act for the sake of Zimbabweans and ensure that Mugabe agrees to share power with the opposition,” said Raila, as reported by Standard.

Speaking at an International Human Rights conference in Nairobi on Wednesday, Raila said Kenya had its share of electoral problems, but moved within three months to agree on a power sharing deal. “Even if Mugabe was among Zimbabwe’s freedom fighters, he cannot be allowed to run Zimbabwe the way he wants,” said the PM.

He expressed concern that Zimbabwe’s Premier designate Morgan Tsvangirai had been denied travel documents to attend a regional summit.

Secret meetings

Prime Minister Raila Odinga hosted Zimbabwean Prime Minister-designate Morgan Tsvangirai and ODM officials at his Karen home.

The Wednesday meeting came after the Standard exclusively reported another high profile meeting with Africa National Congress (ANC) leader Jacob Zuma at the JKIA, Nairobi.

Mr Tsvangirai is reported to have held talks with the Prime Minister and was later introduced to the Pentagon and ODM officials.

Zuma and Raila discussed the Zimbabwe crisis as ANC and ODM announced an alliance.

Zuma sent a strong message to African dictators that their time was up and underscored the role parties would play in strengthening democracy.

“Africa has reached a point where the link of progressive political parties is very crucial to shape up the continent,” Zuma told The Standard.

Among the leaders present were Deputy Prime Minister Musalia Mudavadi, ODM chairman Henry Kosgey, Secretary General Anyang’ Nyong’o, Tourism Minister Najib Balala, Agriculture Minister William Ruto, and Treasurer Omingo Magara.

KENYANS AMAZING EUPHORIA

Kenyan government declared a National holiday minutes after US president-elect Barrack Obama won the November 4th elections?

On the contrary, business went on as usual in the USA where victory was achieved and will be felt.

It is correct to say that Kenya is Mr. Obama’s ancestral home. His father also named Barack Obama was born in Nyangoma-Kogelo, a village in western Kenya.

He died in a car crash in 1982, leaving three wives, six sons and a daughter.

In a phone interview four days ago, I asked the Vice President’s spokesperson, Kaplich Barsito whether the government pushed the victory out of proportion.

He strongly defended the government’s directive saying that this was a great opportunity for Kenyans to celebrate as a country.

“The US did not go through the blood shed we underwent early this year. For them, life has been okay so they needed not really celebrate.”

Drastic hurried changes

In less than 24 hours, President-elects ancestral homestead, Kogelo, had electricity connected and tarmacking of the 20 kilometers rough dirt road that leads to the homestead is now underway.

In my opinion, this move was a quick move to conceal the level of poverty and bad infrastructure that some parts of the country are in.

If it was possible for the Government to install electricity in less than 24 hoursin a village that was in darkness since independence 45 years ago, does it mean that it only takes international attention for the government to address issues it should have addressed ages ago?

Can Kenya afford 60 more Mps

Kenyan Members of Parliament are pushing for the review of constituency boundaries with the aim of adding at least 60 more MPs.

This will cost Kenyan taxpayers an extra Sh48 million a month on salaries alone, says Standard.

Currently an MP earns Sh800,000 a month!

Among other expenses would be office space and personnel.

Nearly half the MPs have backed the proposal to increase the number of constituencies from 210 to 270.

No doubt the reasons given for the need for more MPs sound reasonable.

Some constituencies are so expansive that some voters literally have no access to their MPs and vice versa.

The whole idea of bringing services closer to the people is also what has led to the creation of new districts both in the Moi and Kibaki regimes.

Misplaced priorities

It is debatable whether it is better to make the existing government services more effective and efficient rather than multiply more of the same inefficiency that is usually associated with government services to citizens, says Standard.

It is more practical to have a hospital that is 20 kilometres away and that is adequately staffed with doctors and nurses and medicines rather than have rural dispensaries scattered around them that hardly have medical personnel and drugs.

It may seem simplistic but in the same vein I believe it would be fair to conclude that adding more constituencies in the country would theoretically be construed as a fair way of achieving proportional representation in Parliament.

Instead that Sh48 million per month can be used to equip the existing hospitals and schools with medical personnel and teachers? Build more all-weather roads thus bringing services closer to the people.