MEDIA HOUSES UNDER "SIEGE":

 INTERFERENCE OF THE MEDIA IN KENYA

By Maritim Kipngetich

Media houses in Kenya may not enjoy their constitutional rights since their actions are being interfered with by the government by introducing draconian laws and infringing their copyrights by allowing foreign digital signal entities to broadcast their content.

Article 34 of the 2010 constitution of Kenya gives freedom of the media. This article has been interfered with by several Bills that include Media Bill of 2013 and Security Bill of 2014 which have been passed in parliament to become laws. Passing of these Bills is a violation of the constitution since the constitution itself states that no Bill shall be passed in parliament if it is in contravention of any article provided for in the constitution.

The Bills introduced a heavy penalty on media houses and individual journalists who may publish or broadcast information regarded as inciting, sensitive or obscene. This has interfered with the freedom of the media.

Media regulator, Communication Authority of Kenya (CAK), has been in the forefront in criticizing actions being undertaken by the media houses. Although the regulator is meant to control the media houses, it should, at some point, protect media houses from those who would want to interfere with their daily activities.

The CAK poured salt in a raw wound on Tuesday this week when it bar the three gigantic media houses in Kenya from broadcasting an advert that was meant to warn the members of the public from purchasing a GOTv and Startime Paid Set-Top-Boxes. The three media houses, the Nation Media Group, the Standard Media Group and the Royal Media, said in the advert that the two foreign signal distributors (GOTv and Startimes) were broadcasting their content without permission. They promised their viewers that they would import free-to-air Set-Top-Boxes and soon they will be able to watch their content without any pay.

Following a court injunction on Tuesday that bar the three media houses from airing the advert, the media houses have condemned the court’s move saying they have a right to warn their viewers from purchasing set-top-boxes that may not assist them to watch their programmes.

The media houses argued that the CAK never gave them a first priority and it only preferred giving licence to foreign firms to air their content. They said that they were given two weeks (from December 15 to December 31 2014) to install their digital infrastructure that was not possible. The media houses said it was another way of denying them to develop their infrastructure.

The three media houses control about 80 per cent of the total viewership in Kenya.

They have, therefore, vowed to defend their rights even if it means tabling complaint in Paris Commercial Court in France.