Kenyan MPs pass draconian media law to muzzle press freedom.

Kenyan MPs pass draconian media law to muzzle press freedom.

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Kenyan MPs pass draconian media law

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By JOHN NGIRACHU


 In Summary

The repressive sections of the KICA Bill, passed by Parliament

  • Complaints Commission has been moved from the self-regulatory Media Council to the new authority controlled by the government under the guise of a tribunal handling media and multimedia issues. All the issues it will be handling are regulatory ones, which currently fall within the mandate of the Media Council.
  • Under the new Bill, there is no distinction between content of broadcast media, print media and entertainment -- all issues to do with media content and journalism have been lumped together and will be adjudicated by the all-powerful tribunal.
  • The tribunal can impose fines of up to Sh1 million and on a journalist and Sh20 million on a media enterprise.
  • Local content on broadcast has now been set at 60 per cent required to be effected by every media house with consequences if this is not adhered to.
  • The whole aspect of self-regulation has been negated and all journalists and media enterprises are under the mercy of the tribunal (government)

Kenyan parliament has passed a new draconian media law that imposes harsh penalties on journalists.

(VIDEO: Parliament passes draconian Media Bill)

Journalists now face punitive measures for violating the Code of Conduct for journalists, including fines of up to Sh20 million.

They also risk being deregistered and their bank accounts frozen.

MPs Thursday evening voted to create a tribunal that will handle complaints against the media and have power to impose the harsh penalties.

This happened through the introduction of a surprise change to the Kenya Information and Communication Bill, which was passed last evening with 17 per cent of MPs (60) present in the chambers in the National Assembly.

The House accepted a proposal by the Energy, Information and Communication Committee for the creation of Communications and Multimedia Appeals Tribunal.

The Tribunal would have the power to “impose a fine of not more than Sh20 million on any respondent media enterprise…adjudged to have violated either that law or the Code of Conduct for the Practice of Journalism.”

It has the power to fine individual journalists “not more than Sh1 million” for violating the same code.

It would also get worse because the fine would be a debt, meaning the person or organisation found to have broken the law would be liable to have his bank accounts raided or their property sold off for misreporting.

The tribunal also has the power to “recommend the suspension or removal from the register of the journalist involved.”

It has also been granted the power to make any orders it feels would be necessary to carry into effect the orders or directives it would make.

28 MPs PRESENT


Proposed by Energy Committee chairman Jamleck Kamau, the creation of this tribunal was among amendments introduced with a mere 28 MPs in the chambers.

Only a handful shouted aye when the vote was called for but the fact that there was no one in opposition was taken as evidence that all were in agreement.

As they were going through the amendments, Majority Leader Aden Dualle and Mr Kamau detected that the Bill was not going to be passed without the quorum of 50 MPs and they rushed out to get the rest to come in.

“This is a controversial and good law but the members are not here. This House is more full when passing other Bills,” Mr Dualle would later say.

After that, the 32 who hadn’t been in the House came in and helped bring the numbers up to 60 and then Speaker Justin Muturi called for the verbal vote, the ayes had it and the Bill was passed.

Kenyan MPs pass draconian media law - Politics - nation.co.ke
 
[h=1]Kenya joins states with repressive media laws[/h]
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[h=3]In Summary
[/h]
  • Sections of the Bill empower the Cabinet Secretary to dissolve the current Media Council, declare vacancies and then select the panel to interview candidates.
  • In Yemen, Abdul-Karim al-Khaiwani was jailed for links with terrorists and then released on a presidential pardon in September following months of protests.

Kenya Thursday joined the league of countries with repressive media laws in the world.


The passage of the Media Council Bill puts Kenya among the likes of Zimbabwe, Cuba, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Iran and Kuwait where media freedom is curtailed.

The Bill pulls back the gains the country has made in ensuring freedom of the Press which is crucial for democracy, transparency and accountability.

Freedom of the Press is vital for journalists to do their work without fear.

Sections of the Bill empower the Cabinet Secretary to dissolve the current Media Council, declare vacancies and then select the panel to interview candidates.

In many countries with draconian media laws, journalists have been jailed and cases against editors and reporters are many.

The International Federation of Journalists says journalists in countries with draconian laws work under the constant threat of jail.

Many of the countries permit the jailing of journalists for undermining the reputation of the state, the president, the monarch or the religion.

The laws are also used to suppress reporting of corruption or scrutiny of government actions.

In Yemen, Abdul-Karim al-Khaiwani was jailed for links with terrorists and then released on a presidential pardon in September following months of protests.

In Iraq, the shock assassination of the president of the Iraqi Union of Journalists and subsequent assassination attempts against his successor, recalls the continued pressure under which journalists work despite the significant improvement in overall security.

In Palestine, five journalists were killed by Israeli military during the Gaza invasion. Palestinian journalists have also been victims of political disputes between Fatah and Hamas with both sides guilty of arbitrarily imprisoning representatives of opposing media.

Iran remains the biggest prosecutor of journalists with 10 cases recorded. These figures are down from last year which is a reflection of the effectiveness of the control of the authorities and the limited number of independent titles remaining.

The recent jailing of former US journalist Roxana Saberi, who received an eight-year jail sentence on spying charges by the closed revolutionary courts, highlights the precarious and risky business of journalism in Iran.

There are quite a number of challenges besetting Zimbabwe's media industry, from harassment, threats, detention of media personnel, not forgetting the safety of journalists and restrictive laws that have had an influence on their security.

In Ethiopia, the law provides for the jailing of journalists who make reporting errors, allows the government to confiscate foreign newspapers and gives the authorities 30 days to answer journalists' questions.

On Sunday, President Kenyatta put the media on the spot, saying they had a role to play in national security.

"We must acknowledge and take responsibility for the challenges that still threaten our security.... The threats require a new level of national collaboration that brings together keen diligence of government organs, ordinary Kenyans and even the media," the President said.

The Coalition for Reforms and Democracy condemned the new measures on the media saying they reversed the gains made in the Constitution.

"We have seen an unlawful and unconstitutional invasion of the freedom of the media and the freedom of expression. These two freedoms are the basic pillar and foundation of an open and democratic system of government," Cord said in a statement. The coalition said it would not allow the carpet to be rolled back against "this fundamental democratic space that Kenyans fought for valiantly for so many years."

"The government should come out clearly both in its conduct and management of public affairs whether it supports and is prepared to protect these basic freedoms," Cord said.

Kenya joins states with repressive media laws - News - nation.co.ke
 
Lemme guess...ni Jubilee MPs hao ndo walioipitisha hiyo sheria....
 
New media law myopic, vengeful and extremely dangerous for this country

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By Mutuma Mathiu


In Summary


  • What this means, in practice, is that the government, through the Cabinet Secretary will generally be in charge of regulating the media.
  • I want to tell MPs that this unconstitutional Bill is shortsighted and possibly also short-lived. In national life, it is always a mistake to gerrymander the law to suit momentary interests.
  • By silencing the media, politicians know they can do whatever they like with impunity. No one will ever know.


I was horrified Thursday by Parliament’s secretive and immoral efforts to take the country back to the dark days of dictatorship.

As I write this, MPs have just passed a law which takes our democracy many years into the past.

They have voted to shackle an otherwise vibrant and largely responsible media because they do not have the wisdom to see that an unfettered media are a blessing, not a scourge.

I haven’t read the amendments, but from the briefings I have received, MPs, in a hurried session, amended the Kenyan Communication Bill to create a parastatal which will be in charge of regulating the media.

There will be a complaints commission whose members will be appointed by the Cabinet secretary.

What this means, in practice, is that the government, through the Cabinet Secretary will generally be in charge of regulating the media.

Secondly, the Bill, which the President will most likely sign, provides very severe punishment for media houses and journalists if they breach a code of conduct.

That code of conduct is of course written and will be enforced by the government, through its complaints commission. Heavy fines will be placed on individual journalists, including being barred from practising journalism.

Now, the MPs, who have taken the media fraternity down the garden path, must be congratulating themselves for their cleverness in hitting back at the media which caused them untold suffering in the course of seeking higher pay and cutting lucrative deals.

I want to tell MPs that this unconstitutional Bill is shortsighted and possibly also short-lived. In national life, it is always a mistake to gerrymander the law to suit momentary interests.

In the last government, it was alleged that ODM used various devices to influence the creation of constituencies in a way that was most generous to the Rift Valley, and to some extent, Western and Nyanza, but very mean to Eastern.

Come the election in 2013, Rift Valley was lost and Western was so-so. Only a chunk of Eastern stood with ODM. And so, if the reports were true, ODM created a monster which ate it at the election.

MPs need to know that life is not just about salaries. As national leaders, they must care for more than just their stomachs and a need to settle scores. Leadership requires an ability to rise above base instincts and to allow one’s actions to be guided by wisdom rather than village-idiot instinct.

For the rest of us, free media are our guarantee of rights and watchdog against an avaricious, destructive and war-mongering political class.

All the problems we have as a country today, including the cringe-inducing farce playing out in the international arena, is the direct result of the foolishness, thirst for power and greed of our leaders.

Of course we also play a part in being so tribal as to be incapable of rational thought, but the engine of our troubles is the people we have elevated above us.

Left to themselves, politicians would bankrupt the country and take us back to hunting and gathering. Their blind desire for unearned wealth is the reason Kenya is ranked among the most corrupt places on earth.

But in every society, we can’t leave our welfare and rights to the good nature of our leaders. Good-natured people don’t succeed in politics.

In the face of relentless public scrutiny, even the best among politicians would go rogue in a matter of minutes. Everyone is on their best behaviour if there is a danger of being found out.

By silencing the media, politicians know they can do whatever they like with impunity. No one will ever know.

Now, why is this law dangerous? I have been a journalist all my life. I have attended six universities, four internationally and two locally to learn about journalism. I understand journalism from its psychology to its institutional operations and I can tell you that as a human endeavour, it cannot take place under government supervision or under institutional caveat.

And our free press has done more for our country – fighting dictatorship, exposing corruption and challenging the violation of human rights – perhaps more than any other institution in our history.

Now Jubilee has taken that away.

mmathiu@ke.nationmedia.com

New media law myopic, vengeful and extremely dangerous for this country - Opinion - nation.co.ke
 
Nyani Ngabu said:
Lemme guess...ni Jubilee MPs hao ndo walioipitisha hiyo sheria....
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Right on the money...afu walikua watu wachache kishenzi mazee. This thing is about to get ugly for real!
 
Kwa hiyo Kenya inarudi kule kwa Mtukufu Rais Daniel Arap Moi?

Taarifa ya habari ya KBC ya Jumapili saa saba mchana enzi hizo ilikuwa matata sasa.

Habari ya kwanza kabisa ilikuwa ni Mtukufu Rais Daniel Arap Moi leo amehudhuria ibada ya Jumapili katika kanisa la.....?

Halafu baada ya taarifa hiyo ya habari, Leonard Mambo Mbotela hakuhoji kabisa kama huu ni uungwana.

Hivi angekuwa Muislamu ingeweza kuwa Mtukufu Rais Daniel Arap Moi leo amehudhuria swala ya Ijumaa katika katika msikiti wa.....?
 
Ab-Titchaz said:
Right on the money...afu walikua watu wachache kishenzi mazee. This thing is about to get ugly for real!
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I doubt though whether the President will still sign this into law after seeing the hostile public reaction. This is a very selfish move by the MPs.
 
Why proposed amendments will destroy the media

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By DAVID OHITO

President Uhuru Kenyatta’s proposed version of the Kenya Information and Communication (Amendment) Bill 2013 is far more offensive than the one passed by Parliament.

The President’s memorandum detailing his objection to the KICA Bill passed by the National Assembly - and which sparked outrage - has even more dangerous clauses and punitive sections that sound a death knell to freedom of expression.

The Kenya Editors’ Guild (KEG) expressed concern and alarm that the Kenya Information and Communications Bill returned to Parliament poses grave threats to the freedom and independence the media in Kenya has traditionally enjoyed.

The Bill still undermines the freedom and independence of the media by seeking to confer on the state-controlled Communications Commission of Kenya (now renamed Communication Authority of Kenya) power to regulate and control media, thereby encroaching on the functions and responsibilities of an independent statutory organ, the Media Council of Kenya.

For an organ controlled by the Executive to usurp such responsibilities would have the ultimate effect of undermining key principles underlined in the Constitution of Kenya with regard to free and independent media governed under the principal of self-regulation and co-regulation.
The Communications Authority of Kenya is not the free and independent body envisaged by the Constitution of Kenya to regulate media content. Its functions should be limited to the technical areas of frequency
management and administration.
WORRYING PROPOSAL
In yet another worrying proposal, President Kenyatta recommends that KEG and Kenya Union of Journalists be expunged from the selection panel that interviews members of the Communications and Multimedia Tribunal and included Media Council of Kenya, Kenya Private Sector Alliance, Law Society of Kenya, Institute of Engineers of Kenya, Public Relations Society of Kenya, Kenya National Union of Teachers, Consumers Federation of Kenya and the ministry responsible for matters relating to media. It is not clear what informed this decision.
With individual journalists at risk of paying hefty fines of Sh500,000 and media houses facing fines of up to Sh20 million, the end times for many a journalist and even low budget media houses become real.
Kenyans will be shut out of communication, and community radio stations, which serve local interests, will simply close down in the wake of such harsh laws.
Many community radio stations operate on a budget of about Sh20 million a year and one suit with maximum fines will simply see them closing shop.

The stage has been set for clear State interference in operations of the media contrary to Article 34(5) of the Constitution, which spells out the establishment of an independent body that shall be independent of control by Government, political interests and reflect interest of all sections of society and set media standards and regulate and monitor compliance with those standards.
In the memorandum sent by President Kenyatta, the clause that elicited protest from journalists among other stakeholders said it can “impose a fine of not more than twenty million shillings on any respondent media enterprise and a fine of not more than five hundred thousand shillings on any journalist adjudged to have violated this Act”.

The upshot is that majority of journalists will be declared bankrupt should they fall victim to this Act or face fines.
The fines are stiff and could easily drive a journalist out of practice.
In the KICA Bill, the President and the ICT cabinet secretary will have immense and direct powers to declare vacancies and appoint selection panels to interview the tribunal members.
ADDRESSING CONCERNS
These appointees will be at the whims of the President and cabinet secretary, in contravention of constitutional provisions that bar the State from having control.
The director of Article 19, Henry Maina, said there was need to address the concerns raised by various stakeholders with a view to providing solutions through fresh clauses reflecting stakeholder input.
He said there are issues of representation of all the bodies created and ensuring that such bodies are independent and protected from undue influence and interference from commercial, Government and political interests.
Said Maina: “The President has acknowledged all our arguments. He, however, in his recommendations falls short of providing solutions that may pass the constitutional muster. But the fact that he has not signed it is a first that must be recognised and stakeholders should use the opportunity to engage with Parliament to offer concrete solutions.”
KEEPING HIS WORD
Former Prime Minister Raila Odinga accused the President of not keeping his word to Kenyans.

“The President has not lived up to his word by returning the Bill with draconian clauses. He has shown deceit by reneging on his word,” Raila said.
Broadcasters similarly face challenging times after Uhuru recommended that a broadcaster licensed to distribute radio or television programmes shall broadcast on radio or television such percentage of Kenyan programmes as shall be prescribed by the authority.

There is a loose clause, which may be abused to include coverage of partisan political and commercial interests that are local, and whereas he proposed to change the clause of 45 per cent local content, it is now open and could be increased by the authority to even 65 per cent.
Media houses are going regional and global and it is impractical and discriminatory to start pegging free to air content to include a huge percentage of local content while the elites who can afford to pay TV channels will be enjoying robust menu from various channels and the internet.
The media stakeholders have insisted that enforcing professional and ethical standards can only be done through the Media Council.

Standard Digital News - Kenya : Why proposed amendments will destroy the media
 
Amani leader Musalia Mudavadi criticises Uhuru on media Bill

By Luke Anami

NAIROBI, KENYA: AMANI coalition leader Musalia Mudavadi has criticised President's Uhuru Kenyatta's memorandum on the contentious Media Bill saying the recommendations failed far short of addressing the concerns of the Media.

Instead he advised the media Council to immediately engage the Parliament Committee on Energy, Communication and Information in a move to resolve a section of contentious clauses that the president failed to address.

"The President's memorandum does not address the concerns raised by the Media Council effectively. As per Parliamentary procedures, Parliament will only debate the issues the president pointed out which still leaves the major areas of concern still pending," Mudavadi said in an interview with the Standard.

He noted that the National Assembly will only debate the issues as raised by the President's memorandum thereby leaving out a large number of contentious issues that will adversely affect the media.

"The Media Council therefore needs to re-engage the Parliamentary committee on Information urgently on the shortcomings that have not been reflected in the memorandum."

In the Memorandum to the Kenya Information and Communications (Amendment) Bill 2013, to the National Assembly, Uhuru has maintained the fines against the media and the individual journalist thereby criminalising the profession.

He has also left the powers of the tribunal to recommend the deregistration of journalists intact among other contentious issues.

The president reinstated a clause to give the Cabinet secretary of Information and Communication powers to issue ‘guidelines of general nature' which parliament had earlier deleted.

"The president did not go far enough in addressing the concerns and the shortcomings of the media. The media council needs to move with speed to address what it has left out," Mudavadi who has criticised the bill said.
Mudavadi observed that freedom of the press was critical in addressing devolution and the issues of governance that are critical for a young democracy such as Kenya.

Standard Digital News - Kenya : Amani leader Musalia Mudavadi criticises Uhuru on media Bill
 
the kenyan media has been currently distracted enough and has not matured...an corrupt and erratic media that seeks freedom and does not want to exercise responsibility is an impediment to the growth of any society they want 'self-regulate' a very deceptive move.....in the 21st century where porn and sex act as the staple food for almost all media entities it is no wonder they are against 60 percent local kenyan content
 
Kabaridi said:
the kenyan media has been currently distracted enough and has not matured...an corrupt and erratic media that seeks freedom and does not want to exercise responsibility is an impediment to the growth of any society they want 'self-regulate' a very deceptive move.....in the 21st century where porn and sex act as the staple food for almost all media entities it is no wonder they are against 60 percent local kenyan content
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Yes, but still not an excuse to gag the media.
 
Koborer said:
Yes, but still not an excuse to gag the media.
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I saw the MPS that passed the media bill trying to withdraw the bill after talks. have they deleted the contentious clauses
 
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