Tag Archives: Secrets Act

Journalism in Africa: Kenyan editors reject ‘draconian’ communications bill

Kenyan editors are demanding the government withdraws a bill from parliament that could give the state powers to raid media houses and seize broadcasting equipments at will.

Editors have described the Kenya Communications Amendment Bill 2008, also known as the ICT bill, as draconian and oppressive to a media that has previously successfully fought against the introduction of such an act.

Last year media practitioners took to the streets protesting the Media Bill 2007, which looked to force journalists to disclose their sources.

When first tabled, journalists sought the removal of sections that would bar cross-ownership of media – a move seen as an attempt to close down the nation’s largest media houses, The Nation and The Standard, which both own a broadcasting and print outlet.

David Makali, chairman of the country’s Editors Guild, has questioned why the government has hurried to enact the laws, arguing that it should concentrate on the passage of the Freedom of Information Bill that has been going through parliament for the last four years.

The Freedom of Information Bill seeks to replace the existing Official Secrets Act and improve access to public information by the public.

“Why is the government obsessed about controlling the media and seeking power to get into media houses at will, instead of freeing the ground for us to access information. What is the priority: punish media houses or inform the nation?” asked Makali.

Hannington Gaya, chairman of the Media Owners Association (MOA), said if passed into law, the repercussions of the bill, which mainly targets broadcasters, could be ‘even more dangerous’ than those from the Media Bill.

“This bill is illegal, immoral and unconstitutional. Through this bill, the information and communications minister and his internal security counterpart are working together to frustrate the freedom of press,” claimed media consultant and politician, Tony Gachoka.

According to Gachoka, the bill is meant to justify acts like the infamous raid on the Standard Group.

In March 2006, the then internal security minister, John Michuki, ordered a police raid on the Standard Group, resulting in a loss of millions of shillings.

In an unprecedented attack on the media, around 30 heavily armed and hooded police from the elite Kanga squad, ostensibly formed to fight armed and dangerous criminals, descended on the Standard’s offices at midnight, beating up employees, breaking doors, stealing employees’ mobile phones, removing CCTV cameras and carting away 20 computers.

Police officers later took broadcaster KTN TV off air for about 13 hours and disabled the Standard’s printing plant, setting light to thousands of copies of the day’s edition as it rolled off the presses.

In a phone interview information and communications minister Samuel Poghisio said the bill seeks to harmonise law and policy in the ICT industry, which is the fastest growing industry in Kenya.

The bill will be tabled in its current form, said Poghisio, adding that any further amendments will be done according to the vibrancy of the industry and that editors should await the passage of the laws in parliament to raise their issues.

“If they do not revise those issues we will seek redress in court,” responded Makali.

Journalism in Africa: Kenyan government seeks guidelines on anonymous sources

Dennis Itumbi reports for Journalism.co.uk from Nairobi on the media scene in Kenya:

The Kenyan government is urging the local press to develop a set of standardised rules for using anonymous sources.

Government spokesman Dr Alfred Mutua told a weekly press briefing that the state was concerned about ‘a new pattern of untrue stories that are on the increase and which solely depend on anonymous sources’.

Journalists at the televised briefing put the spokesman on the spot over the government’s reluctance to pass a proposed Freedom of Information bill and replace the current Official Secrets Act – a retrogressive set of laws that criminalise access and publication of basic information by branding all government documents confidential.

“You cannot accuse the media of being lazy and irresponsible, while they labour to get information that is hidden under the excuse of the Official Secrets Act. Kindly update us on how far the Freedom of Information bill has gone, given that it has been pending in parliament for the last nine years,” one journalist said.

“We agree that the time has come to free information, but the fact that we have not brought in the new law is no excuse to use sources who have little description or authenticity. We must stop that pattern for the sake of truth,” answered Mutua.

Last year Kenyan journalists took to the streets with their mouths gagged to protest against new laws by the government that would have seen the media forced to disclose their sources.

Journalism in Africa: Kenya’s plans for industrial growth could boost media

Kenya’s plans for industrialization by the year 2030 will have a major impact on the country’s media, writes Dennis Itumbi for Journalism.co.uk.

Intervention in economic policies, the tourism sector, improvement of roads, commercialization of farming and affordable credit to farmers are among a raft of radical measures proposed in the VISION 2030 document, whose overall goal is to ‘turn Kenya into a globally competitive and prosperous Kenya’.

The most notable changes are the proposed end to the currently retrogressive Official Secrets Act, which makes it illegal for local journalists to access government documents, and the introduction of a Freedom of Information Act.

The laws are contained in a voluminous document that also proposes to place Kenya in the league of fast growing economies alongside Malasyia and Thailand within the next 22 years.

Other changes being proposed in the development blueprint include a review of the country’s Media Act, the Kenya Broadcasting Corporation Act and the law governing media regulator the Communication Commission of Kenya (CCK).

Hannington Gaya, chairman of the Local Media Owners Association, has welcomed the move.

“One can only hope that this new document does not end up on a shelf like all others before it, since it has good intentions, and for the first time the role of the media in development is recognized,” he said.

“The Freedom of Information [Act] in particular is a welcome move,” said Gaya in a phone interview.

The changes to the Media Act could make it mandatory for both local and foreign journalists to undergo specialized training before being accredited to cover general elections – part of efforts to restore a balance to the country’s media after last year’s disputed presidential election resulted in countrywide violence.

Further changes to the CCK will introduce news ways of monitoring and regulating language on vernacular radio stations, which were blamed for fanning the violence.