State ready to hold talks over new media laws

ICT Secretary Fred Matiang’i (left). He on Thursday said the government was ready to hold talks with media owners and practitioners in order to review the controversial media laws of 2013. DIANA NGILA | NATION MEDIA GROUP | 

In Summary

• He accused the media of declining to hold discussions with the government and instead rushing to court to challenge the law.
• Because of the case, the editors halted the recruitment of Media Council members and the formation of the Multimedia Appeals Tribunal by the Information Cabinet Secretary, arguing that the action was unconstitutional.
• The government had achieved a lot in the past two years but media firms were only looking at its failures, according to Dr Matiang’i.

By OUMA WANZALA
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The stage has been set for discussions on two controversial media laws that were suspended last year.

Information and Communication Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i Thursday said the government was ready to hold talks with media owners and practitioners in order to review the controversial media laws of 2013.

Last year, two clauses were suspended by the High Court for being unconstitutional. The State appealed and the case is pending.

Dr Matiang’i Thursday said the case had made it difficult for the media complaints commission to do its work.

“We are ready to talk and reach a middle ground and we hope the media will be ready this time round,” Dr Matiang’i said during a media breakfast with members of the Kenya Editors Guild in Nairobi.

He accused the media of declining to hold discussions with the government and instead rushing to court to challenge the law.

“I had invited editors for talks so that we could find a way out only to learn that they were already in court,” he said.

Information and Communication Technology Principal Secretary Joseph Tiampati called for dialogue over the laws.

“We have to embrace dialogue as opposed to litigations,” Mr Tiampati said.

Former Kenya Editors Guild Chairman Macharia Gaitho welcomed the proposal, saying the editors were ready to settle the dispute out of court provided their concerns are addressed.

He cautioned the government against comparing Kenya with Rwanda, Uganda and Ethiopia on press freedom, saying Kenya was ahead of them.

UNCONSTITUTIONAL

Because of the case, the editors halted the recruitment of Media Council members and the formation of the Multimedia Appeals Tribunal by the Information Cabinet Secretary, arguing that the action was unconstitutional.

Dr Matiang’i yesterday insisted that the Jubilee administration supports and believed in the freedom of the media. He said the government had not banned any media outlet like Kenya’s neighbours did.
“We have been criticised unfairly but we have been tolerant,” he said.

The government had achieved a lot in the past two years but media firms were only looking at its failures, according to Dr Matiang’i.

He said foreign journalists working in Kenya should report fairly and accurately but the government had no intention of victimising them or shutting them down. Kenya Editors Guild chairman Linus Kaikai differed with Dr Matiang’i on media freedom in Kenya, saying it had been a tough two years for media.

“The industry has been swinging between hope and despair. The legislative agenda has consistently been one that seeks not to regulate but to curtail the very freedom that makes the work of journalists possible.

“We consider these pieces of retrogressive legislation as a polite way of rolling back the progress of our industry and that of the country,” Mr Kaikai said.