By Wilson Ugangu
(The writer is a former fellow at the Consumer Union, Washington office and Coordinator of the Media Diversity Centre in Nairobi.)
The aftermath of Kenya’s highly disputed presidential poll has not only brought violence and destruction to the streets, but also a major clampdown on the media by the government. Just moments after Mwai Kibaki was hurriedly sworn in as president on December 30th, the Ministry of Internal Security announced new controls on the country’s media and mobilized government security forces to stem public protests and demonstrations.
Subsequently, all live television and radio broadcasts were suspended and cell phone companies were instructed to censor anti-establishment text messages. In more recent days, the Police Commissioner has ordered a major a crackdown on Internet service providers suspected of transmitting what the government terms "sensational hate information" The government issued a stern warning saying those found guilty of transmitting such Internet traffic will be prosecuted and have their licenses cancelled.
These extreme measures by the Kibaki administration on the media, freedom of expression and peaceful assembly have been widely, both in Kenya and throughout the international community. A recent statement by the United States Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Jendayi Frazer calls on Kibaki and his government to restore media freedom and the public’s right to assemble. Frazer has been trying to help broker a negotiated settlement to the country’s political crisis.
In the meantime, the state-owned Kenya National Broadcasting Corporation has been transformed into a government mouthpiece. The voices, images and personalities on KBC have sadly been those of government functionaries only. The new information minister has yet to say when the ban on live broadcasts is likely to be lifted.
Senior editors at various media outlets have been put under extreme pressure by the government to cover only certain stories and in certain ways acceptable to government. One senior editor intimates that the pressure on media owners and managers from the government has obviously compromised editorial independence and the media’s watchdog responsibility.
Soon after Kibaki was declared winner, media outlets were given instructions to silence the voices of opposition leader Raila Odinga and other opposition leaders supporting him. As a result many ordinary people have resorted to foreign news services such the BBC, CNN, Aljazeera and Sky News to get a full picture of the political events in their own country. When the ban on live television and radio broadcasts was put in place, Aljazeera was also curiously off air for a whole day. This happened a day after Kibaki’s controversial win and swearing in.
Street protests, looting and violence rocked many parts of the country resulting in the death of hundreds of people, with hundreds of thousands more displaced. The most affected regions have been the Western parts of the country, the Coastal city of Mombasa as well as the expansive Rift Valley region where Odinga has the greatest support.
The government has placed blame for the violence and mayhem that has rocked the country on Odinga and other opposition leaders. Kibaki has been telling Odinga to talk to his supporters to help restore calm, but many have been wondering how Raila can be expected to do this when the government has continued to censor the media as well as outlawing public meetings that he has called.
Kibaki is perhaps the most senior politician in the country. He got into politics just before the country got independence from Britain in the early 1960s. Since then he has served in various senior cabinet positions, as well as serving as the country’s Vice President.
Kibaki won the presidency in the 2002 elections which were hailed by the international community as the most democratic in the country’s history. Since then, however, Kibaki’s government has wavered in its commitments to democracy, accountability and good governance.
Several senior ministers close to the president were implicated in huge corruption scandals. Gradually the public started losing confidence in his rule while criticism from the media, members of his own government, civil society and the international community mounted for him to take action on corrupt ministers. To stem this pressure, Kibaki started retreating to his own community for support. Senior government appointments went to members of his Kikuyu community only. This reignited the age old ethnic tensions that have always characterized relationships between the different tribes in Kenya.
These feelings of exclusion and unfair advantage did not go down well with the general public and political leaders from other tribes. As a result, the ethnic backlash witnessed in the wake of the disputed presidential poll has seen members of Kibaki’s Kikuyu tribe targeted for attacks from other tribes.
The underlying motive is the shared feeling that the national cake has been unequally distributed, with a larger portion going to the Kikuyu while others are excluded. Kenya’s first president, Jomo Kenyatta, also a Kikuyu, also filled the ranks of his government with his tribesmen.
Signs that the Kibaki government had completely veered off the course of democracy and the ideals of good governance started showing in 2005. A senior government minister in charge of internal security ordered a night raid on the East African Standard, a major newspaper in Kenya. The next day’s newspapers were destroyed and computers and other property were smashed or confiscated. The minister alleged that the newspaper had been unfair in its criticism of the government. In justifying this action, the minister said, "this is what you get when you rattle a snake."
This latest moves by the Kibaki regime to muzzle the media are thus seen by many as attempts by a system whose mandate to govern is clearly in doubt to use force to stem criticism while struggling to entrench itself. Many observers, however, say that unless, a level of openness is created where issues of democracy, inequality, truth and justice can be discussed, lasting peace will remain illusive. A free media can surely play a big role in realizing this.
