Uhuru’s changes to media Bill criticised

President Uhuru Kenyatta was Sunday put on the spot over the changes he has suggested to the media Bill that he sent back to Parliament last week for amendment before it becomes law.

Religious and trade union leaders, lawyers, human and civil rights activists, politicians and other professionals criticised the President’s proposed amendments to the Kenya Information and Communications (Amendment) Bill 2013, which they said were unconstitutional.

The National Council of Churches of Kenya (NCCK) accused the government of seeking to claw back the freedoms that Kenyans have painfully gained over the years through introduction of draconian laws.

The umbrella organisation of Protestant churches demanded the withdrawal of the controversial Bill and the Public Benefit Organisation Bill through which the government is seeking to have direct control of the media and NGOs.

“By seeking to control the NGOs and the media, the government is essentially seeking to muzzle the institutions that hold it to account,” said NCCK secretary-general Rev Peter Karanja.

Mr Kenyatta’s proposed changes transfer control of institutions which can punish journalists and their employers from the National Assembly to the Executive and the Presidency.

The amendments retain the Sh20 million fine against media houses proposed by MPs and expands offences for which media houses can be punished by a government-controlled tribunal.

The Kenya National Union of Teachers chairman, Mr Wilson Sossion, also criticised the proposed changes.

“We are urging members of Parliament to rise to the occasion and be sensible in amending this controversial Bill,” he said.

The Law Society of Kenya threatened to move to court if the proposals are adopted and the Bill passed into law.

“This well-orchestrated choreography seems to be an attempt to take us back to dictatorship. Remember the President and his deputy are very good students of former president Moi,” LSK chairman Eric Mutua said yesterday. “We as LSK shall move to court to have the act declared null and void if the amendments are passed into law.”

At the Coast, religious and civil society leaders warned that the country could easily slide back to the dark days of repression should the Bill become law.

Human Rights Agenda executive director Yusuf Lule and Sheikh Mohammed Khalifa of the Council of Imams and Preachers of Kenya (CIPK) said there were indications that the country was sliding into a dictatorship.

The latest developments emerged as journalists said they would hold a demonstration in Nairobi tomorrow in protest at the proposed changes that threaten to curtail Press freedom.

Editors’ Guild vice-chairman David Ohito said journalists had issued a notice of peaceful picketing to Central Police Station on Saturday and asked the officers to provide security during the demonstration.

Nyanza NGOs Council chairperson George Obondo also criticised the President’s decision as did Siaya Senator James Orengo.

“The recommendations in the Communications Amendment Bill are the opposite of the constitutional provisions that have staged freedom of expression including that of the media; we cannot accept the recommendations as they attempt to curtail such freedoms,” said Mr Orengo.

Cotu secretary-general Francis Atwoli took issue with the composition of the panel to pick the members of the proposed Communications Authority of Kenya in which the President proposes various institutions to be represented but leaves out the Kenya Union of Journalists (KUJ).

Media owners said President Kenyatta’s memorandum of refusal on the Kenya Information and Communications (Amendment) Bill, 2013, should be taken to the parliamentary departmental committee on Energy and Communication.

The Media Owners Association, on behalf of the Nation Media Group, Radio Africa Group, Royal Media Services, Kass and Standard Group said the Bill as passed by the National Assembly on October 31 fundamentally violates the spirit and letter of Article 34 and is thus unconstitutional.

“In some respects, the proposals by H.E. the President in his memorandum to the National Assembly are even more violative of the Media Freedom, enshrined in Article 34, than the Bill as originally enacted by the National Assembly,” the association said in a joint statement.

It also said it would go to court to challenge the constitutionality of the proposed law if Parliament does not shoot down the changes.