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JANUARY- MARCH 2015
A Publication of the Media Council of Kenya
The Media Observer
Issue 5, 05 February 2018
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Let media do their work
MCK CEO Mr. David Omwoyo
The Media Council of Kenya is shocked at the recent
turn of events in our country where a political contest has turned into the greatest threat and assault on freedom of expression and media in Kenya’s recent history. It is deeply regrettable that Royal Media Services’ Citizen TV and Inooro TV, Nation Media Group’s NTV and Standard Media Group’s KTN News channels remain switched off by Communications Authority of Kenya. While it was initially alleged that the switch off was to stop the media outlets from airing live the swearing in ceremony of the National Super Alliance leader, their signals have not been restored and no explanation has been put forward as to when they will be allowed to resume operations. We appreciate the government’s position that investigations are going on about the events of 30 January 2018. However, the Council does not believe that switching on the said media outlets will interfere with investigations. In addition, the alleged event has long been concluded. This act erodes the gains so far made in developing a free and responsible media industry and should never happen in a robust democracy that Kenya boasts of. As guaranteed by the Kenyan Constitution, media freedom should be guarded jealously at all times.
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The switching off while targeting the media houses is denying Kenyans the right to information as guaranteed by Article 33 of the Constitution which states that ‘every person has the right to freedom of expression, which includes freedom to seek, receive or impart information or ideas and Article 34 that says ‘freedom and independence of electronic, print and all other types of media is guaranteed and the State shall not exercise control over or interfere with any person engaged in broadcasting, the production or circulation of any publication or the dissemination of information by any medium.’ It is important to appreciate that media houses once licenced to operate are free to make their editorial decisions. We now call upon all agencies involved to immediately restore the signals and broadcasting abilities of the media houses. Any investigations and discussions can go on when the media houses have resumed their normal broadcasting. Finally, The Media Council asks all media practitioners to exercise their freedom with responsibility and due regard to the Code of Ethics and the Law of the land. This statement was issued by MCK CEO Mr David Omwoyo on 31 January 2018.
Issue 5, 2018 3, 05 22 February January 2018
Did Uhuru become UN champion for youth?
President Uhuru Kenyatta has a new title: the Global Youth director Oduor Ong'wen wrote to the UN body, Champion for Youth Empowerment, a title supposedly according to the Star. bestowed by the UN children’s agency UNICEF. It was all over in the news. But is it true? There were other equally fiery reactions locally and internationally. The Presidential Strategic Communications Unit (PSCU) on 19 January 2018, circulated a dispatch announcing that the The UN appeared to be unaware of the alleged president had accepted a request to be UNICEF’s champion appointment of President Kenyatta. According to the for youth. Star, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said he had no idea that Uhuru was appointed as a youth champion. The president’s communications unit reported that UNICEF Executive Director Henrietta Fore had said, “the Speaking to the Inner City Press on 23 January, Dujarric President’s role will include advocating promotion of reportedly said: "The director spoke about the need for universal healthcare, education and nutrition.” Ms Fore had youth to be engaged and the president said he will paid the president a courtesy call the same day. support that but beyond that, I am not sure of any appointment." This news sparked a furore. On Twitter, several Kenyans bashed the UN agency under the hashtag Former UN spokesman in Iraq and veteran journalist #shamefulUNICEF for appointing what they said was the Salim Lone, said the dispatch from the presidential wrong person. Most of comments centered around the communications unit was false. killing, rape and maiming of many people, including children and youth, by police during last year’s controversial “In any self-respecting democracy with a nominally free elections. President Kenyatta is on record thereafter praising press, this issue would be easily dealt with,” said Lone, the police for their good work (to be clear, it was not a long-serving adviser to NASA leader Raila Odinga. clarified what police work the president complimented). “The newspapers which very prominently misreported the above appointment (it was the leading story on the The ODM opposition party fired a protest note to Nation’s website), or State House which formally UNICEF. announced it, could say that there had been a misunderstanding and the president had not been in "We urge your office to keenly review and rescind fact appointed. UNICEF understandably has this appointment and offer an apology to the many... not entered the fray as it never said it had made the families whose children were physically and sexually appointment,” he said. assaulted and the millions of young unemployed Kenyans chocking under the heavy weight of official It looks like the presidential communications unit owes government corruption and plunder," ODM Executive the country some explanation, does it not? 2
Issue 5, 05 February 2018
Tribes do not serve in government Time to!
The happy king lauded Jubilee government for appointing Eugene Wamalwa (Devolution) and Ababu Namwamba as Chief Administrative Secretary in the ministry of foreign affairs. “The community is now part of the government. As a kingdom we are non-partisan but we support the government of the day. We urge those appointed to serve all Kenyans,” the king said.
The question of whether Kenya is one nation, one people,
or merely a collection of communities sharing a territory and one authority composed of ethnic chieftains, refuses to go away. A pity. That should have been sorted out 55 years ago. Following the recent announcement of a new Cabinet by President Uhuru Kenyatta, as reporters would say, there have been mixed reactions from around the country. What stands out, as usual, are those predictable news reports about self-appointed ethnic kingpins crawling out of the woodwork either dancing and ululating because “their community” was honoured with an appointment, or weeping and gnashing their teeth because “their community” was left out. On 27 January 2018, The Standard online carried an article titled, “Nabongo’s Wanga clan gets first CS since independence.” Two Standard reporters – yes, two, not one – regaled their readers with the tale of how, “despite the Wanga being known across the world due to its paramount King Nabongo Mumia, it was until President Uhuru Kenyatta unveiled his full cabinet that the clan got its first CS.” Clans, as readers could infer, are entitled to at least one important government appointment from time to time. The ones left out may justly feel aggrieved. Ahem, by what logic? Is that what President Kenyatta had in mind when appointing Rashid Achesa Mohammed as CS for Sports and Heritage? We don’t know. But the Standard scribes seemed to be quite certain about it. According to the Standard, King Peter Mumia II said: “This is the first time Abawanga are producing the first CS. We have had assistant ministers before but now we have a full minister. We thank President Kenyatta for considering us.”
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Oh, well! A community is only part of the government when a person from there is appointed to the Cabinet or some other big job? Who put this rubbish in people’s heads? And why should The Standard rubberstamp it? There are three things to say about this. One, every qualified Kenyan has a right to be appointed to government office. It is not a gift to that individual or their ethnic group. Two, being in government is not about being appointed CS or some other big job. We are sure there are many Abawanga who serve in government in various capacities. And three, whatever the politics of it, in reality one’s appointment to whatever position in government means materially nothing to their community. There is really nothing to brag about. The person is hired to serve all the people of Kenya. He or she is paid a salary and enjoys other benefits as an individual and his family. How does the appointment benefit the person’s community? How now? This last point deserves emphasis. Positions of power in Kenya attract intense competition. All the time. Individuals going for those positions have often pretended to be representing their ethnic communities. They often ride on their community’s grievances or misplaced sense of entitlement to power. And the communities themselves, or rather their self-appointed spokespersons, often behave as if whatever benefits the individual would get upon acquiring high office will trickle down to them. What arrant nonsense! This mindset, which the media happily trumpets, deepens and rigidifies ethnic consciousness. In the end, public office is not seen as an opportunity to serve all the people of Kenya without distinction. Instead, it is seen as a reward to an ethnic community.
Issue 5, 05 February 2018
Don’t turn Pokots into bandits
You will never read or hear in a Kenyan news report that police in Nairobi killed three suspected Kikuyu thugs. Or that, two suspected Luhyia bandits died instantly after they broke into a shop in Kangemi and drank poison they mistook for chang’aa. What would it matter if the suspected thugs were Kikuyu, Ogiek or de-ethnicized millenials? And how would police tell the ethnicity of the suspects, anyway? Have you ever heard a news report that officers from the Kenya Ethics and AntiCorruption Commission arrested four Kamba policemen suspected of taking bribes on Kisii-Kilgoris road?
The final paragraph read: “On December 19, 19 people died in an accident at Loruk on Marigat-Kapedo road. It is believed the accident resulted from an attack by Pokot bandits.” What does it matter whether the suspected bandits were Pokot or whatever? Days later on 18 January 2018, the Star had yet another story titled, “5,000 children fearful of bandits, stay away from Baringo schools", this time written by Joseph Kangogo.
“The pupils were among more than 800 Ilchamus Or that suspected Luo robbers broke into a bank in Nyeri residents who were displaced after Pokot bandits and made away with an unknown amount of money? launched a retaliatory attack on Mukutani Full Gospel Church on March 14 last year”, Kangogo reported. Yet quite often, you hear or read about “Pokot bandits” or “Turkana cattle rustlers”. What is the point of this On January 21, Kangogo filed another report for the ethnic profiling? Star headlined, “Pokot woman, two children killed in Kapedo by suspected Turkana bandits.” On 13 January 2018, the Star carried a story titled, “Nanok takes peace, security talks to Uganda after While the journalist may have been sure that the woman Turkana attacks” by Heboun Etyang. A paragraph in that and her two children in this very sad incident were Pokot, story read as follows: how did he conclude that the perpetrators were Turkana bandits? It is not indicated that they were ever “On November 4 last year, nine people including three arrested and their ethnicity determined yes Kangogo said: police officers and the Turkana East education director “Last week on Sunday, a Turkana man was shot dead by were killed at Lomelo near Kapedo by suspected Pokot suspected Pokot bandits while fetching firewood in bandits. The bandits ambushed their AP vehicle while Kapedo.” they were on patrol.” Sounds Ok, doesn't it?
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Issue 5, 05 February 2018
Which universities face closure?
“Three universities face closure,” read the main headline on the back page of the Daily Nation, January 25, 2018. A similar report by the same author, Ouma Wanzala, appeared on the online edition of Business Daily, a publication of Nation Media Group, titled, “Presbyterian, KeMU and Catholic varsities now face closure.” Another NMG publication, The East African, carried the same story under the heading, “Three Kenyan universities face closure.”
not facing closure. The regulator had, according to the reports, “recommended a forensic financial audit”. Is that the same thing as “facing closure?” Of course not. Ouma Wanzala’s reports were therefore not accurate. Nor were they fair to the Catholic university and KeMU in informing the public about the state of affairs at the two institutions.
In all three publications, Wanzala reported that the Commission for University Education (CUE) had recommended the closure of the Presbyterian University of East Africa (PUEA).
What’s more, Wanzala did not bother to contact the universities to respond to a matter that mentioned them adversely, as required by the Code of Conduct for the Procactice of Journalism in Kenya (Art. 1).
“The regulator has also recommended a forensic financial audit of Kenya Methodist University (KeMU) and Catholic University of Eastern Africa (CUEA) in a report to acting education cabinet secretary Fred Matiang’i dated January 22,” the papers reported.
This is quite possibly why the Vice Chancellor of the Catholic university, Prof Justus Mbae, had to issue a statement denying the reports that the university was closing.
Matiang’i has since ordered the closure of the Presbyterian university . So, at the time of publishing the news reports, how many universities faced closure? Only one, the Presbyterian university. What about the Catholic university and KeMU? They were
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He said that the Catholic university was audited by CUE last year in January, September and December. The university is in the process of implementing a turnaround strategy consistent with the regulator’s requirements. “We assure all our stakeholders that the Catholic university is doing all that is needed to remain in operation as a chartered university,” Prof Mbae said.
Issue 5, 05 February 2018
Gossip away, but do not fan xenophobia
If The Nairobian, a publication of the Standard Group, is to be believed, Embakasi area in Nairobi is crawling with idle aliens. Hey, be on the lookout! But, alas, they are not alien beings – green humans fallen from outer space. They are West Africans. "Utawala residents up in arms over influx of idle Nigerians," a headline in the weekly read.
around bragging, etcetera, why should police or, indeed, anyone, be bothered? Mr. Gumbihi, who is idle here and should mind their own business: the alleged aliens, the residents of Mihang‘o or you? Who is spreading rumours?
The Nairobian can brag that it is a gossip rag. But, no, this is serious. Profiling foreigners as criminals has led “Mihang’o residents in the Utawala area of Embakasi are to deadly xenophobic attacks in many places. They are up in arms against the influx of West Africans whom they often an easy scapegoat for deep-seated social tensions that nobody wants to address honestly. accuse of engaging in illegal activities,” Hudson Gumbihi reported. And where did this thinking come from that certain foreigners, usually black people, are always up to no “The residents suspect the foreigners, mostly from good? Have we so internalized racism? Criminals are Nigeria, engage in pornography, drug trafficking and money laundering — although nobody has been arrested criminals, whether local or foreign. due to lack of compelling evidence.” So, Mr. Gumbihi, why raise an alarm? “They only come out at night. During the day they are asleep. Nobody knows exactly what they do for a living yet they go around bragging a lot. Residents are surprised police are not bothered,” Gumbihi quotes Mihang‘o MCA Paul Kadosi as saying. Well, if people decide to sleep all day and come out only at night and nobody knows what they do but they go
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Issue 5, 05 February 2018
Ongoing attacks on journalists unacceptable
And finally, we continue to receive worrying reports about attacks on journalists in various parts of the country. On Monday, 29 January 2018, two journalists were assaulted by Administration Police and their equipment damaged when they tried to access the premises of Homa Bay County Assembly, according to multiple news outlets. The reporters had gone to cover a special sitting of the assembly called to oust chairpersons of some committees. The AP officers and assembly security blocked the journalists’ entry and roughed them up. Those attacked were Barack Oduor of Nation Media Group and George Odiwuor of Mediamax Networks. Two other journalists, Sammy Omingo of Standard Group and Janet Nyamwamu of Nation Media Group, were attacked while at work at Kisii University, various media reported. Joshua Araka, the chairman of reporters in Kisii County, condemned the incident. He said this was not the first time journalists were attacked in the area. He asked police to investigate the incident and bring the perpetrators to justice.
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Issue 5, 05 February 2018
News that never was. #FakeNews! 1
In the build up to the NASA “swearing in”, Interior Cabinet Secretary Dr. Fred Matiang’i was purported to have declared 30 January a public holiday to allow Kenyans to attend and celebrate the event. Dr. Matiang’i was forced to issue a public notice disowning the fake Gazette Notice.
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Matiangi’s tribulations did not end there. Another “notice” was released on his behalf purporting to issue a curfew on the day of the NASA “swearing in” ceremony.
Issue 5, 05 February 2018
News that never was. #FakeNews! 3
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Chief Justice David Maraga was caught in a similar web. Fake news mongers claimed that he had cautioned judges and magistrates against participating in the NASA “swearing in� ceremony, purportedly terming it illegal and an attempt to unseat a legitimate government.
NASA leader Raila Odinga was claimed to be sick in hospital!
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Issue 5, 05 February 2018
News that never was. #FakeNews! 5
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And what was that about Nairobi County Police Commander Mr. Japheth Koome collapsing?
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Gatundu South MP Moses Kuria was also hit by fake news. He was said to be planning to kick out the CEO of Kenyatta National Hospital who has been in the eye of a storm following unverified claims of patients raped at the national referral hospital.
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Issue 5, 05 January 2018
Well, the Media Council of Kenya was not spared either! They put words in the mouth of Programmes Manager Victor Bwire and planted him 500km from where he actually was, Nairobi!
The Media Observer is published weekly by the Media Council of Kenya.
Media Council of Kenya P.O. Box 43132 – 00100 Nairobi, Kenya
Chief Executive Officer David Omwoyo Programme Manager Victor Bwire Project Team Leader Kodi Barth Media Monitoring Leo Mutisya Editor Henry Makori Layout Simon Njuguna Tel: (+254 20) 2737058, 2725032 Cell: +254 727 735252 observer@mediacouncil.or.ke
@MediaObserverKE
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Issue 5, 05 February 2018