HILTON HOTEL:

HILTON HOTEL, AN ELEGANT HOTEL IN THE CITY

PHOTO: A side view of Hilton Hotel at the heart of the Kenya's capital city, Nairobi.

By Maritim Kipngetich

Hilton Hotel, a 17-storeyed cylindrical with broad base building situated at the heart of the Kenya’s capital city_ Nairobi _ is  a magnificent building designed exclusively to host people from all spheres of life. When one stands anywhere in the city, one must locate the position of the Hotel since its architectural design is unique. It is a landmark which has not only beautifies the city, but it has also augmented the city’s status. It is one of those ornamental buildings which have made Nairobians feel like they are living in Copenhagen, Demark_ the smartest and peaceful city in the world.

It is a dream of everyone passing near the Hotel that one day one will be among the bigwigs who spend most of their time inside there. It may look expensive in the outside, but there is a place for everyone inside; whether a working class or a hustler.

Yesterday night was a red letter day in my life. It all started at around 8:30pm when a friend of mine Benjamin Obegi (an experienced journalist at the Standard Newspaper), who is also my colleague in my place of work and my mentor, invited me to grace an occasion where journalists who have been writing developmental stories were being awarded. Lucky enough, the occasion was staged at the Hilton Hotel, a Hotel I have been admiring a lot and wishing that one day I may get a chance to just be inside for a tour.

PHOTO: An inside view (ground floor) at the Hilton Hotel in Nairobi, Kenya.

I was waiting for 9pm news as I normally do, when I received a phone call from him that he needed me urgently to be with him as he waited to be awarded. I dashed to my room in campus and dress smartly for the occasion, picked my national identity card and headed to the Hotel which is 20 minutes walk from the campus.

It is a rare case for me to be in the city center when it is passed 8pm not unless it is an urgent matter.  On approaching the hotel, I checked my phone and I found a missed call from Benjamin. I called him back to ask which gate I would use to enter the hotel since there are several entrances. There is one gate opposite International House which I normally see and think that it must be the main entrance; little did I know that there are other big entrances where there is thorough security check. He told me to use the gate, main entrance, which faces National Archives of Kenya building along Moi Avenue.

I hesitated a bit. I thought the security guards I found near the entrance were the one checking visitors before they enter the hotel. I later realized that those guys only deal with those who drive in and not those who go there by foot like me. So I passed them and followed a guy who was heading inside.

PHOTO: Swimming pool situated at the top of the building, Hilton Hotel.

 He was the first one to be checked at the entrance. Security guards in this building wear dark piece of suit common to people of a higher class. So the guard checked the guy I followed. I was lucky, I had dressed well. My black well-fitting leather jacket, white shirt, black douser, shining black shoes and of course my spectacles gave me decent look: a look common to be people of a higher class. “Welcome and enjoy your time here, sir,” the guard told me. I felt elated and I moved elegantly, a move that portrays my social status_ ”rich”.

From the door step and most probably all parts of the building is covered with a woolen glittering carpet. The occasion was held on the first floor. Before I climbed the stairs to first floor, I became scared since I never saw anyone climbing up the stairs but all of them were descending.  So I thought there was another stairs I could use to ascend. Finally, I decided to risk by using that, only to realize when I was upstairs that that was the only stairs to be used.  At this floor there are several hotel rooms. So I had elusive moment in identifying which room should I enter. Doors to different rooms in this building are like those which I watched in an Indian movie_ Players. I had never seen such doors in my life. I don’t think even Kenyan presidential residence, State House, has such doors.

I consulted commissionaire who was standing beside me to assist me in identifying the room where journalists were being awarded. He opened the door and let me in.

Inside, there are several people seated at round tables. The lights in this building are as unique as the building itself. The ladies inside, who are your common faces in your television screens, were as beautiful as the Banjunis of Lamu or Indian ladies. The shining lights made them look awesome.

 I stood at the door like a lost sheep and phoned my friend. Fortunately, he was seated near the door and he beckoned me to where he was. Besides him is a trophy it had been awarded to him! A trophy I normally see in the malls along Moi Avenue and Kimathi Street and wondering how costly it is. I had an exclusive opportunity to hold it and see what was written in it. The trophy carried the name of my friend_ Benjamin Obegi, Standard Print.

PHOTO: A side view of Hilton Hotel during the night.

I felt out of place. I was with respectable guys in the society, members of the fourth estate_ journalists. The journalists inside this hotel room were not ordinary journalists, but award winning journalists. Journalists, who have traversed this country writing stories about Female Genital Mutilation (FGM), were being honoured by Kenya Media Network on Population and Development.

Unfortunately, I found the occasion at its tail end. I only witnessed one NTV female reporter being awarded.

After serving me a drink, my friend Benjamin Obegi had a word for me.

“I called you to come here and witnessed this, so that you strive to write an award winning story in future,” he said to me.

We left the building at 9:40pm. I was extremely happy and I thanked my friend for his invitation before we part ways near Nation Centre. We promised to see one another the next day in the office and bade one another good night.

END

COME-WE-STAY MARRIAGE AND YOUTHS:

COME-WE-STAY MARRIAGE GENERATED DIFFERENT REACTIONS AMONG KENYANS

By Maritim Kipngetich

Come-we-stay has been in the rise among the Kenyan youths today especially those living in urban areas.

This has made the government move ahead and legalise come-we-stay marriage practice in Kenya. This was initially meant to assist people who are in rural areas and want to marry, but their customs could not allow them to do so.

Although come-we-stay is a legal practice in Kenya it has received critics and endorsements almost in equal measure with church leaders vehemently oppose to it and majority of Kenyan youths supporting it.

Amos Kinyanjui, an urban dweller, said come-we-stay marriage is a nice thing since one is not required to assume full responsibilities of a husband or a wife. “In come-we-stay, there is freedom among the couples. Unlike in the real marriage where one is required to follow everything other couple says and abides by the rules of the marriage,” Kinaynjui said.

He said there is no payment of dowry the marriage unless the couples decide to pay. “No one can be forced to pay dowry. In any case more often than not, parents of the couples are not involved. It is an arrangement between two people who decided to live as husband and wife,” he says.

Kinyanjui, however, said it is a risky marriage. He says in instances where the two decides to have a ‘divorce’ before six months, the legal time limit for come-we-stay to mature to be a real marriage, are over, one couple is always disadvantaged.

Reaction of come-we-stay marriage varies with the gender with female gender opposing the issue saying men are cunning beasts who like to spend time with women who are not there real wives.

“Come-we-stay marriage is mostly for men. We ladies are not always of that opinion since we know that men are bad people when it comes to relationship. A man can decide to stay with a lady for five months and then dump her and no way a lady can sue him in a court of law,” Stella Cherono, a second year economics student at University of Nairobi (UoN), says.

Cherono says the marriage is common among university students. “I have friends here (UoN) who are living with their boyfriends since the time they joined the university. There are like husbands and wives. A lady washes clothes and cooks for her man and the man buys the lady everything she wants. They also have rules governing them. The lady has to be in the man’s room in time,” Cherono says.

The Bill that was passed in the National Assembly last year gave powers to chiefs to issue come-we-stay marriage certificates to the couples. That was meant to ensure that the people, who engage in relationship with the hope of consummating marriage in future, are given certificate to legalise the relationship before the real marriage occurs.

The Bill got endorsement from the women groups across the world with Joint Programme on Gender Equality and Women Empowerment appealing to the National Assembly to pass the Bill since it offered a comprehensive legal framework that governed marriages.

Some men however do not know how come-we-stay maximum period help couples to legalise their relationship.

John Kitonga, a fourth year political science student at UoN, asks: “How will one prove in court that they have stayed for more than six months and they have nothing to sign when they are starting the relationship?”

Kitonga’s question was the subject of debate in parliament before the Bill was passed. Some Members of Parliament, especially women, were opposed to the Bill saying it is an elusive task to prove the period couples have stayed in the relationship in a court of law.

The Marriage Bill 2013 received critics from women MPs because the content was not only concerning the come-we-stay marriage, but it also legalised polygamous marriage.

Lillian Mwende, a student, said come-we-stay does not benefit parents of the lady since there is no dowry payment. “The parents of the lady cannot receive anything for appreciation as it normally happens with real marriages. There is no token given to the lady’s family since there is nothing legalised. In fact it should not be called marriage. It is a boy-girl sex relationship,” she says.

Although the come-we-stay marriage receives both criticism and endorsement in equal measure, many people are engaging in it without knowing. The legal measures involving it is not familiar with many people especially the forks dwelling in the rural areas of Kenya.

Penetration of come-we-stay knowledge in the rural areas is too low. The Bills are normally published in the Kenya Gazette before they are discussed in parliament, but many people do not access it and this has made many people just abide by the laws they never participated in coming up with as it is provided in Article 118 and 119 of the constitution_  provisions which state public participation.

SOCIAL MEDIA AND JOURNALISTS:

SOCIAL MEDIA HAS DIVERTED THE MINDS OF JOURNALISTS

By Maritim Kipngetich

Lazy journalists follow social media pages of bigwigs to get information they claim to be from authoritative sources and yet they cannot take time to verify if such information is really true, Amos Kibet, Media Monitoring Officer at the Media Council of Kenya, said when he was addressing journalism students of the University of Nairobi on Thursday.

Kibet said scoop journalism is common nowadays and media houses have rushed to publish information that they cannot fully verify.

He said media houses should not fully rely on information they get from the social media since accounts of some people in higher ranks in both government and private institutions are sometime hacked by unknown people. He gave an example of the deputy president’s twitter account which was hacked by al-Shabaab terror group in March this year.

Kibet cited citizen journalism as the main threat to professional journalism saying that professional journalists sometimes hide information considered to be sensitive to the public only to find that citizen journalists have posted in the social media. He said photos of massacred people are always not portrayed in the mainstream media, but their photos are found circulating in the social media.

However, Kibet blamed journalists saying they are the one posting sensitive photos in their social media accounts since more often than not they are the first one to get to the scene of mayhem to take photos before the public arrives. He, therefore, warned journalists to use their social media accounts with caution.

He never gave an upper hand to media houses who publish sensitive photos in the name of public interest. He said there is need to teach media houses what public interest means in journalism.

“Definition of public interest is required for media houses to know what it really means. They are using it blindly,” Kibet said.

Veteran journalist Dr. Samuel Siringi also addressed the students and he said social media has diverted the minds of journalists.

“Social media has caused a serious dilemma in the media houses and journalists should be wary about it,” Dr. Siringi said.

Dr. Siringi said there is need to have social media policies to guide journalists who are using social media.

“Who is setting the agenda? Is it social media or mainstream media houses,” he asked warning that journalists should be careful when getting views of a certain issue from the people using social media. He said that some people run several social media accounts and one may use one’s accounts to comment on the issue. And in search scenarios, journalists will rush to the social media and start writing stories basing on “the views of Kenyans in the social media” and yet it may be only two people giving their views.

The Chairman of Editor’s Guild, however, said journalists are advised to use social media accounts of the people in government and private institutions if only they can ascertain that they are their official accounts.

DIGITAL MIGRATION CASE:

ANALYSIS OF THE SUPREME COURT’S JUDGEMENT ON THE CASE OF DIGITAL MIGRATION
Maritim Kipngetich
Background of the case
On 22nd November, 2013 Royal Media Services, Nation Media Services and Standard Media Services filed a case at the High Court seeking an order compelling the Communication Commission of Kenya (CCK) to issue them with Broadcasting Signal Distribution (BSD) licenses and frequencies and an order preventing the CCK from switching off their analogue frequencies, broadcasting spectrums and broadcasting services pending the issuance of BSD license, but the Judge dismissed the petition saying that it was costly.
The outcome of the case filed by the three giant media houses in Kenya was the petitioners were not allowed to be issued with BSD licenses because of their status or legitimacy on their part.
 Also, they were not allowed because the implementation of the digital migration was not a violation of the petitioners’ fundamental rights and freedoms.
Finally, the court held that the petitioners had not established that their intellectual property rights had been infringed.
The media houses never accepted the decision of the High Court and they made an appeal at the Court of Appeal.
On 28th March, 2014 the Court of Appeal delivered a concurring judgment different from the one which was declared at the High Court.
The Court of Appeal ruled that CCK was not the independent body contemplated by Article 34 of the constitution and it had no mandate to issue BSD licenses.
An appeal at the Supreme Court
The three media houses filed an appeal at the Supreme of Kenya where judges made their ruling in on 11th April, 2014 that Signet Kenya Limited, Star Times Media Limited, Pan African Network Group Kenya Limited and GOtv Kenya Limited are prohibited from broadcasting any content from the three media houses without their consent pending the hearing and determination of the intended appeal.
The Court also ruled that CCK is prohibited from switching off broadcast frequencies, broadcast spectrum and broadcast services pending the hearing and determination of the appeal.
Also the Court also made a ruling that the CCK is not the body envisaged under article 34 (3)(b) of the constitution of Kenya.
A BSD license allows the company to digitally transmit program content to the consumers. In analogue terrestrial television the broadcaster develops content and transmits the content while also maintaining the infrastructure.
In digital terrestrial television the broadcaster only develops the content while the digital distributer in this case the Pan African Network Group and SIGNET, obtains a BSD license to transmit the content developed by the broadcaster.
This case involves a bid the National Signal Network (which normally issue license to three media houses) to obtain a BSD license.
The case however is not restricted to issuing only to the issuing of licenses, but touches on matters of fundamental rights of consumers and hard-fought for freedom.
The case is based on the rights of freedom of expression, media freedom and the right to access information.
The CCK disqualified the National Signal Networks and granted the license to PANG. The National Signal Network appealed to the Public Procurement Appeal Review Board.
The board however, upheld the decision of the CCK and this prompt the National Signal Network to move to the High Court to seek relief.
The high court held that the National Signal Network was not entitled to a BSD license merely because they ere established media houses with substantial investments in broadcasting equipment over the years.
The court also held that the implementation of the digital migration did not violate their fundamental rights and freedoms. The National Signal Network was however not satisfied and they made an appeal at the Court of Appeal.
This is the court where National Signal Network got some relief since the Court of Appeal ruled that the National Signal Network had invested much in the broadcast industry and therefore it had a right to be issued with BSD license.
On the above court of appeal ordered that independent regulator should grant National Signal Network a BSD license and revoke the BSD license issued to PANG. It is against this judgment that the PANG file an appeal in the Supreme Court.
The main issue before the supreme court is that the body that makes decisions about granting of BSD license must be independent as it is envisaged under article 34 (3) (b) of the constitution. The requirement of the body to be independent is important to ensure that licensing procedures are not under influence of the government, political or commercial interest.
The Independence of the body envisaged under article 34 of the constitution is vital in that it shields against influence from the external forces.
The National Signal Network argued that the CCK was not independent as its leadership is composed of government appointees.
The court therefore considered article 34 (3) of the constitution which guarantees the freedom of establishment of broadcasting and other electronic media, but subject to licensing procedures that are necessary to regulate the airwaves and other forms of signal distribution.
The court concluded that CCK was legally mandated to issue the BSD license even after the promulgation of the 2010 constitution.
CCK’S decision not to include the Royal Media Services and Nation Media Group Limited on the technicality was not in the line with the values of the constitution.
 Another issue which was raised before the court was the matter of legitimate expectation. The National Signal Network argued that they had not been promised the BSD license in both the ICT Policy of 2006 adopted by the Permanent Secretary in the ministry Information and Communication in speech he gave at the media gathering.
The court rejected the argument saying granting of licenses is a function vested in CCK by law. The court found out that the license can only be allocated through the legal provisions that guide such a process and cannot be the result of a promise made by an official who does not have statutory powers.
 The court also considered the argument that as National Signal Networks decided not exercise its rights to appeal against the Tribunal’s decision to the high court, the decision of the tribunal became final.
The underlying principle is that judicial and administrative decision is to be treated as final as it enhances fairness, uphold the integrity of the courts and the administration of justice.
The emphasized the provisions of Article 10 of the constitution which lays out the national values and principles of governance which are binding in the interpretation and application of the constitution and in the making and implementing of public policy decisions.
The court stated that the sustainable development requires the Communication Authority of Kenya (CAK) to balance ten public sectors, the local private sectors and the international sector interests when considering applications for BSD licenses.
The court also declares that the interests of local investors in the broadcast industry should neither be ignored nor be dismissed out of hand.  The recognition of local private sector investment and indigenous commercial interests also encourages competition, plurality of players and stimulates economic growth within the domestic sphere, all to the benefit of the ordinary consumer.
The court noted with concern that though SIGNET, a subsidiary of Kenya broadcasting cooperation was granted BSD license based on KBC’s role as the public broadcaster, SIGNET has yielded its licensed operations as private corporate entities a decision that defeats the public interest considerations upon which SIGNET was founded.
The court then urges the CAK to consult with government about this question. The court reiterated the responsibility of state organizations to protect our national interests. Also SIGNET must meet its public obligation to remain to be a public broadcaster.
Although CAK deployed the procurement procedure in the Public Procurement and Disposal Act, in granting the a BSD license to Star Times Media Limited and denying the same to Royal Media Services, the Nation Media Group Limited and the Standard Media Group Limited. The court therefore dismiss the move decision it made by the CAK to grant BSD to one media house by saying it was not an ordinary procurement of goods and services.
The court declares that the decision by CAK to license the three media houses appeared not to have been informed by the imperatives of the values of the constitution in as it is stated in Article 10.
Deputy Chief Justice gave an opinion that emphasized the importance of the elevation of judicial review of the constitutional level. She held that administrative function under Article 34 (3) is an administrative action that should adhere to the prerequisites off Article 47.
The court issued proposals and orders which include recommending that parliament consider environmental factors that should guide signal distribution in compliance with Article 10 (2)(d) of the constitution_ sustainable development which is one of the national values and principles of governance and article 42 of the constitution which envisaged the right to a clean and healthy environment.
The court also decided that it would urge the CAK to ensure that sale of Set Top Boxes (STB) is open to completion to avoid creating monopoly and duopoly. The highest court on the land also declares that, the center of sale of STB should be at the interest of the consumer.
STB will allow the consumers to watch the digital program.
The court also recommended that the CAK should consider requiring the CAK to ensure that BSD licence issued to PANG meets the constitutional and statutory mandate.
The court ordered that the Court of Appeal’s directive to independent regulator to issue a BSD licences to Nation Media Group, the Royal Media Services and the Standard Media Group be set aside.
The CAK was ordered to ensure that the BSD licence issued to Star Times Media Limited is aligned to constitutional and statutory mandate.
The Supreme Court also ordered CAK to consider the merits of the application for BSD licence by National Signal Network within 90 days from the date of the judgment.
The Court also ruled that the 30th September, switch off date, should remain valid pending the hearing and determination of the appeal.

STUDENTS' LOAN:

UNREST AMONG UNIVERSITY STUDENTS OVER HELB LOAN

By Maritim Kipngetich

The escalation of students’ unrest over Higher Education Loans Board (Helb) loan over the past few months, has rekindled a heated debate among the students across various universities with each student having a different view of the matter.
Following the recent closure of Kimathi University where students took to streets and destroy properties claiming that they had not been given the funds by the board, the issue has generated different reactions among students with some questioning the board; is Helb loan given first to students from some universities and others from other universities wait for some time before they are given?
The students from Kimathi University were complaining that they had not been given the funds and yet students from other universities had got the money.
Gorge Mureithi is a fourth year engineering student at the University of Nairobi (UoN) and he says disbursement of funds by the board is mainly based on the universities.
“It is clear that when the board is giving out funds it must base on the universities. For example, the Helb headquarter, Anniversary Towers, is just opposite UoN main campus. If the board delays to give UoN students funds, then the students can go there and claim the money because they can easily access the building unlike other universities at the countryside,” Mureithi says.
In September this year, UoN students stormed Helb headquarters demanding the funds. They were arguing that the board had delayed the money. They were expecting their subsequent loan in June, but the board delayed the disbursement by three months and the students had to compel it to give out the money.
However, the board, as it announced in June, had a genuine reason to delay disbursement. It said that defaulters had not reimburse their outstanding loan balance and the board found it elusive to give out billions of shillings students had applied in June. Prior to annual budget reading, the board had announced that the loan disbursement might be delayed;  board singled out first years who were to join various universities across the country in September, as the main students who would not benefit from the funds until November this year.
“Year of study matters a lot. You cannot expect a fourth year to ask money from his or her parents. The board prefers to give loan to continuing students to freshmen,” Mureithi said.
The process of getting loan has been a headache to some students. Several tedious processes have denied students to apply loan. Some students complain that getting lawyers to stamp the application form in some regions of the country is not an easy thing. They have had to toil and moil with some, who have got a chance to travel to the Helb headquarters, have to use a thousand shillings for one stamp.
“My home is Wajir. To get a lawyer is very difficult unless one travels all the way to Garissa High Court. For my case I had an advantage because I was admitted to this university (UoN)...I had my application form stamped by a lawyer on third floor at Anniversary Towers,” Hussein Abduraman, a second year economic student at UoN, said.
Asked if people from poor counties should be given more loans, Abduraman admitted that the loan should not be given equally. He said people like him, who emanate from marginalized areas, should be given more funds.
“We are in a desert region characterized by poor rainfall. We cannot plant anything. We only depend on livestock unlike counties like Kiambu where people do businesses, plant tea and coffee,” he says.
Religion, according to Abduraman, is never a factor to be considered when disbursing loan to students by the board. He said the money he gets as loan from the board is just the same as what his friends from other religion get.
Abduraman’s sentiments are echoed positively by Damaris Muli, a second year education student at Kenyatta University. She said no one can be discriminated because of one’s religion. She said that all faiths, whether Muslim, Hindu or Christian should not deter one from getting the funds from the board.
“I think even the board management has never thought of giving out the funds basing on one’s religion. Constitution is clear on the issue of religion,” she says.
However, Muli said that money should be given equally to all students unless in special circumstances.
“If a student is an orphan and needy then such student should benefit more from the funds. It should not be based on the regions. One might say people from certain county are wealth, but there are some who are languishing in poverty and they live within that county,” she says.
Legal measures according to Muli are necessary since the money in question is given as loan. She said that will enable the loanee to refund the fund in future otherwise if legal procedures are not followed then loanees may not pay back the money.
Kevin Onyango, a third year second semester pharmacy student at Technical University of Kenya, has never applied the Helb loan saying that he does not want the money because he will be expected to pay in future.
“Loan is meant for students who emanate from less-endowed families. If one’s parents are able to pay fees and money for one’s sustenance, then no need of one applying for loan. Helb loan is not for free. One is expected to pay back,” he says.
The Helb loan has been a question odf discussion among students of late. Although the board is justifying the reason why they delay the funds, they should look for other ways of getting the money rather than wait for defaulters to pay back. Many of the past loan beneficiaries have no jobs, so no way they can pay the money. The board can request more funds from the government.