Kenya: Civil society organisations have upped the tempo against oppressive media laws and warned that draconian laws were also targeting the non-governmental organisations.
Deputy chair of the Editor’s Guild David Ohito (left), chairman of Kenya Correspondents Association William Oloo Janak (second left) and Director of Article 19 Henry Maina argue with chairman of the parliamentary committee for Energy, Information and Communication Jamleck Kamau (right) after a meeting at Pan Afric Hotel in Nairobi Tuesday. Photo: Jacob Otieno/Standard
A joint meeting of stakeholders with an interest in the media cautioned that the democratic space was being shut down systematically.
And besides laws gagging the media, the government has targeted NGOs with legislation limiting their operations and sources of funding.
The NGOs plan to launch a petition supported by at least three million signatures from all constituencies to ask President Uhuru Kenyatta not to assent to bills that will curtail the media and reverse gains made on democracy.
The NGOS are also infuriated by yet another proposed law contained in the Statute Law Amendment Bill 2013 which seeks to cap foreign budget funding for NGOs at a maximum of 15 per cent.
The Kenya National Human Rights Commission (KNHCR) has offered to draft an advisory opinion to President Kenyatta on the two media-related bills that have stoked controversy over the last one week.
Education forums
Pro-media freedom organisations like Article 19, the Freedom House, KNHCR and activist Davinder Lamba said “Kenya must now get into public education forums and teach the masses how these laws will impact their lives and reverse the democratic gains made from the mid-1980s to date.”
Article 19 Director Henry Maina said: “It appears Jubilee government’s long-term plan to rein in media and CSOs and muzzle freedom of expression contrary to constitutional provisions is alive and must be rebutted”.
The Kenya Information and Communication Amendment Bill 2013 seeks to introduce a fresh regulatory framework and impose a firmer government grip on media operations through hefty fines targeting individual journalists and media houses and seeks to repeal the best practice of self-regulation.
The Kenya Editor’s Guild Vice-Chair David Ohito said stakeholder meetings were going on with several meetings lined up between MPs, the ministry of Information and Communication, civil society and Kenya Correspondents Association to try and reach consensus.
President Kenyatta and Deputy President William Ruto at the weekend reiterated the government’s commitment to resolve the controversial issues amicably before assent.
Tuesday, the Kenya Correspondents Association and Kenya Editors’ Guild argued that pegging local content at 60 per cent between 6am and 10pm was not only discriminatory but also impractical.
Said Mr Ohito: “Currently the broadcaster with the highest local content only airs up to 18 per cent of such content. It means if the law is implemented now, all TV and radio stations countrywide including State owned KBC will be in contravention of the law and liable to a fine totaling 0.2 per cent of their annual revenue.”
The worst-hit will be community radio stations whose average operation costs annually are about Sh14 million and therefor cannot pay a fine of Sh20 million.
Free-to-air TV
“This law will put all broadcast media houses in Kenya out of compliance and subject free-to-air television viewers to boring and low quality programming. We must safeguard media diversity,” Ohito said.
KCA chair Oloo Janak said his members were already demonstrating in sections of the country against the oppressive media laws and were worried about the industry’s future.
Tomorrow, NGOs meet to rally their campaign against the retrogressive amendments targeting NGOs as proposed in the Statute Law Amendment Bill 2013.
