Pressure Thursday piled on President Uhuru
Kenyatta to reject the controversial media law
passed by Parliament last week with the
Charles Nyachae-led Commission for the
Implementation of the Constitution (CIC)
describing it as “unconstitutional”.
The Commission has written to the President
urging him to send the Bill back to Parliament
for review.
“The Bill contains provisions which are
unconstitutional and if enacted in its current
state will inadvertently erode the gains made
in the Constitution to ensure freedom of the
media,” said Mr Nyachae.
He, however, called for patience among
journalists and media owners, saying it was too
early to seek legal redress without giving Mr
Kenyatta a chance to exercise his Executive
authority to reject the contentious Bill.
Among other things, the Bill sets up a powerful
Communications and Multimedia Appeals
Tribunal with wide-ranging powers over the
media.
The Kenya Editors Guild, the Kenya
Correspondents Association (KCA) and the
Kenya Union of Journalists (KUJ) had threatened
“drastic measures with far-reaching
consequences” to protect media freedom,
including seeking redress in court and
launching major protests across the country as
was done in 2007 when another Bill that had
threatened press freedom was passed in
Parliament.
President Kibaki declined to sign the Bill into
law.
Thursday, consultations between the Editors
Guild and the correspondents association and
proponents of the Bill hit a stalemate.
Mr David Ohito, the Editors’ Guild vice-
chairman said his organisation would not relent
until President Kenyatta sends the dictatorial
Bill back to Parliament for the contentious
issues to be resolved.
The law allows the President to return the Bill
to Parliament within 14 days with a
memorandum stating the clauses that should
be revised. Parliament needs a two-thirds
majority to overrule such a memorandum.
On Wednesday, National Assembly Speaker
Justin Muturi said the Bill was already “on the
conveyor belt” to be delivered to Mr Kenyatta.
He told MPs who had said they were willing to
consult on the Bill that it was too late in the
day.
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And Thursday, Mr Ohito said: “We are going to
fight any attempts to cripple media freedom in
this country.”
Among other things, the law stipulates that 55
per cent of all broadcast content, including
advertising, must be local and be aired
between 6am and 10pm.
It also provides that media companies and
individual journalists can be fined up to Sh20
million and Sh1 million respectively for
flouting the journalism code of conduct or
provisions of the Act. The fines will also be
converted into debt.
Further, it gives the tribunal the power to do
anything to enforce its decisions in the event of
a dispute involving the media and a third party.
The tribunal also will have the power to
“recommend the suspension or removal from
the register of the journalist involved”.
Yesterday, Mr Nyachae told journalists to first
petition the President not to sign the Bill into
law. Mr Kenyatta has already indicated that he
would not sign the Bill and would give room for
consultation. He has also cautioned the media
to use their freedom responsibly.
The CIC chairman said journalists should only
go to court if the President signs the Bill into
law or if Parliament overrules his
memorandum.
CIC, which is charged with overseeing the
implementation of and adherence to the
Constitution, said several clauses in the Bill
contravened Article 34 of the Constitution
which guarantees media freedom.
It said MPs had also contravened Article 33(2)
of the Constitution which expressly provides
that the State shall not exercise control over or
interfere with any person engaged in
broadcasting, production or circulation of any
publication or dissemination of information.
Mr Nyachae also said MPs had infringed on the
Constitution by purporting to enact laws that
seek to penalise journalists for their opinion or
content of their broadcast.
He was referring to the harsh penalties that the
Bill seeks to impose on journalists who violate
the Code of Conduct for Journalists, which is to
be written by a government-appointed body.

Posted by Blyth on 12:40. Filed under . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0