Our Legislators a Shame

Members of Parliament on August 16, 2007 rejected a proposal by the Government that they take a one month break.

The legislators rejected a motion of adjournment moved by Vice-President Moody Awori that the House go on recess until September 25, barely a month from the time the President is expected to dissolve it in readiness for the December general election.

They voted against the motion arguing that there is still too much work to be done by the Ninth Parliament and rejecting Awori’s coaxing that they are “too tired”.

But questions are bound to be raised as to why the MPs rejected the adjournment motion. Their argument is that there is too much work that they cannot afford a break.

The defeat of the motion comes only a day after the Constitution of Kenya (Amendment) Bill, 2007 that sought to repeal section 33 of the current constitution which provides for 12 seats of nominated MPs and replace it with that of 50 seats exclusively for women and 40 new constituencies was rejected.

True, there are many pending Bills which ought to be dealt with by Parliament. For instance, there is the Political Parties Bill, 2006, that seeks to regulate registration and management of political parties.

There is the Constituency Development Fund (Amendment) Bill, 2006 that is aimed at changing the management of the CDF kitty.

There is the Fiscal Management Bill which seeks to give MPs more say in the preparation of the Budget, and the Statute Law (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill which seeks to change more than 20 laws.

Other Bills are the Nutritionists and Dieticians Bill, 2006, the Wildlife (Conservation and Management Bill), 2004, and the National Social Health Insurance Fund Bill, 2004 in which the Health ministry seeks to make available free medical care to the public.

There is also the Proceeds of Crime and Money Laundering Bill, 2006, and the International Crimes Bill, 2006. The Youth ministry has also lined the National Youth Policy.

But did the MPs refuse to go on recess because of this overload? We refuse to buy that line of thought.

Their interest, as a matter of fact, is the Statute Law (Miscellaneous Amendments) Bill which contains the proposal that each legislator get a golden handshake of Shs 5.6 million.

Indeed, lobbying had been going on quietly among the legislators to gang against government’s Bills and compel it to approve the Shs 5.6 million “golden handshake” for each MP.

President Kibaki is said to have declined to approve the motion, which, according to Justice and Constitutional Affairs minister Martha Karua, is “unpopular” with the masses.

She has persuaded the legislators, in vain, to accept a Shs 1.5 million “golden handshake” as recommended in a report by a former Chief Justice.

Here, our legislators are being hypocritical at the expense of the voters. Where have these MPs been all along to warrant them start claiming that there is too much work to be handled barely two months before the dissolving of Parliament? Aren’t the same people who have been interrupting House business due to quorum hitches?

All along, Speaker of National Assemble Francis ole Kaparo and his deputy David Musila have been at pains explaining to the legislators that they have to attend Parliament sessions if the House is to serve the public as required.

So serious has been the problem that crucial debates have been interrupted simply because the House could not marshal the minimum number of MPs required for business to be transacted. Standing Orders require that at least 30 MPs be present in the House for any business to be transacted. Many motions and Bills, for example the Media Bill, have been passed by less than 30 MPs contrary to the Standing Orders.

In many cases, the chair has been forced to drop questions listed in the Order Paper simply because an MP, who is the questioner, despite knowing that he or she has a question slated for that particular day, misses to appear.

That is why we state it is hypocritical for the MPs to claim that they cannot afford to go on recess because there is too much work.

Their interest is to ensure that they pass the Bill that will guarantee their Shs 5.6 million golden handshake. And if this turns to be the case, the Ninth Parliament will register a score card of being a complete letdown to Kenyans.

Let Kenyan Media regulate itself

By Francis Mureithi
Why do our rulers always want to boss us about? It's time to stand up and start causing trouble!!
No week goes by without some new initiative to restrain the freedoms or rights of a particular group.
One ignores these individually because there are better, more amusing things to think about.
But taken as whole, the actions of our government regarding the Freedom of the Press are extremely worrying, the more so perhaps because we do so little to resist them.
Take for example the controversial Media Bill, the brain child of Information and Communication minister Mutahi Kagwe.
This was a Bill well crafted to gag the media in Kenya. Compelling editors to reveal their sources of stories in case of litigation is a direct bullet aimed at killing investigative journalism.
And were it not for the lobbying against the Bill, President Mwai Kibaki would have signed it into law.
Justice and constitutional affairs minister Martha Karua, in her abrasive way, was for it by hook or crook.
This is the case with information minister, ironically who once served as a media practitioner. What would have prevented the President from appending his signature if not the protest by media practitioners, civil society, the church, members of the public and other institutions?
The August 15 peaceful demo by Journalists from all Media Houses in the country’s capital Nairobi and Nakuru was a bold step, that put a strong message that Freedom of the Press is there to stay.
And when we do not join hands in restraining those in power from gagging the powerless, the blame is squarely ours.
Now, Attorney General Amos Wako has said he will advise the head of state to return the Bill back to the House for amendment of the contentious clause.
But what the media practitioners should fight for is pure expunge of this Draconian Law. Let the media work on self regulation instead of us being regulated by others.

Koigi has a warped mind on Media in Kenya

The following article was written by information and communication assistant minister Koigi Wa Wamwere. In my opinion, this is an assistant minister with a warped mind regarding media in Kenya. Read on and make your own judgment. Your comments are welcome.
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Sections of the media have asked why I have been quiet over the Media Bill. I have been thinking. The media should be the voice of democracy, but they can also be the voice of dictatorship. I have always feared that media owners or other partisan forces can unleash unregulated power to intimidate, terrorise, excommunicate, ostracise, subdue and ultimately destroy media heretics or perceived enemies.
The intention of the Bill is to prevent the media from being misused for money or power to erode and destroy public morals, private lives, African identity and culture, subvert truth or rig elections. Unfortunately, the law is trying to take meat from a lion that is not ready to eat grass.
Viciously, the lion has bared its sharp teeth and put its claws out to tear the Bill and its advocates into pieces. Already, the media lion has floored the Minister for Information and Communications Mr Mutahi Kagwe with its paw of one-sided debate and distortion of Ol Kalou MP Mr Muriuki Karue’s amendment.
As Kagwe lies on the floor bleeding, the heaviest guns are now aimed at President Kibaki whom the media warn to sign the Bill at his own peril. Of course, before the media obliterated the minister, they had fired their ammunitions at Parliament, but failed to intimidate MPs.
The media war against self-regulation is, however, not lost if they can destabilise the minister and force the President not to sign the Bill. The final duel will, however, be fought on the floor of the House if the President rejects the Bill.
But the President can grant the media temporary victory if he returns the Bill to the House or refuses to sign it, leaving the matter in the hands of next Parliament. It is clear that the media and Parliament are at war over whether the National Assembly should make a law for them or not. Though the media fight against regulation, they urge the strictest regulation for everybody else, including the President they now ask to reject their self-regulation.
Media interpretation unprofessional
By the way, I do not mind the war as long as it is fought within the Geneva Convention of civilised warfare. In other words, like all other wars that society uses the media to fight, truth and fairness should be observed.
However, since the media lost the battle in Parliament, it has abandoned rules of civilised warfare in its attempt to win at whatever cost. The other side is not heard and Karue’s amendment asking that a clearly described, but unnamed subject of a story be named in court is distorted to mean disclosure of the source of a story.
The media’s attempt to interpret ‘subject’ to mean ‘source’ is unprofessional and alleging danger to the source insincere because the country has enacted the Witness Protection Act to shield whistleblowers who expose corruption.
Equally, the media and their supporters argue that the Bill is unconstitutional and the President should not assent to it despite Temporary Speaker’s ruling and Attorney-General’s opinion that it is perfectly constitutional.
To block logic in the debate, pleas go unheeded that the Speaker of the National Assembly, the Attorney-General and all MPs cannot be nincompoops that did not see the unconstitutionality of the Media Bill and Karue’s amendment. MPs make laws, but the media and its lawyer-supporters believe they have not the slightest idea of what is constitutional or not!
Ideally, the media should be dispassionate fora for the nation to debate her problems, anxieties and aspirations. They should never constitute themselves into a force outside or against society. What happens when the media cease to be voices of all and become partisan? They become a frightening voice of dictatorship, not democracy.
The media are asking the President to reject the Bill, not because it or Karue’s amendment are unconstitutional, but because they have all along been hostile to regulation and self-regulation.
But if the media are exempted from regulation and self-regulation, they will turn rogue, trample on everybody and unleash disaster to the country.
If the President signs the Bill into law, he will be saying yes to a free but responsible media. If he says no to it, he will be saying yes to a rogue media. Should he then sign it or not? The President should sign the Bill because if he does not on the basis of meaning and constitutionality, he will be helping the country to say goodbye to truth and honesty.
The President should sign the Bill because if he does not, he will be helping the country to say goodbye to public morals and security of the State under threat from negative ethnicity. The President should sign the Bill because he is not a dictator and should not rule the country without Parliament.
Rejecting a Bill that Parliament has passed will be a statement against democracy.
The President should sign the Bill because he should not consent or reject laws on the basis of media, politicians and civil society intimidation.
The President should sign the Bill and those who wish can challenge its constitutionality in court. Kibaki should sign the Bill even if magistrates and judges might interpret Karue’s amendment differently. In an adversarial legal system, that is the common fate of all laws.
Above all, the President should not reject the Bill to favour the media for past or current coverage. That is not how fair and just laws are made.
The writer is the Assistant minister for Information and Subukia MP

Kenyan MPs, a major Let Down

By Francis Mureithi
Pressure is still mounting on the Kenyan government over the Media Bill with journalist, in a rare spectacle, conducting a peaceful protest in the streets of Nairobi to pressurize the President not to sign the Bill into law.
Ironically, several MPs have moved to court to block the signing of the bill by President Mwai Kibaki. The group, led by presidential aspirant Raila Odinga has taken their suit to Nairobi's High Court to block the publication of the Bill intending to force journalists to disclose their sources to the government.
Dozens of other MPs have voiced their opposition to the enactment of the Bill. But the big question is, where were these MPs when this draconian Bill was passed by Parliament?
How comes only 29 legislators were present when the Bill sailed through? Why should MPs start shedding crocodile tears now that the Bill is in the hands of the President yet they had a golden opportunity to make the necessary amendments in Parliament.
This is a clear indication of how MPs have neglected their legislative role despite their hefty salaries each and every month. They have proved that, apart from a few such as nominated MP Njoki Ndung’u, that they are professors in gluttony at the expense of what actually took them to Parliament.
As a Parliamentary reporter, I have seen how this (Dish) honorable members have been conducting the business of the House with the quorum hitch being the order of the day.
They are a pure letdown to Kenyans, a disgrace to the kind of Kenya we dream of. They should stop whining about the Media Bill, they are the same people who passed it, or were not in the House to ensure draconian clauses do not sail through. Let other quarters such as the media practitioners, the church, the civil society, the foreign envoys and the like make noise about this Media Bill as it is the only way to ensure it is not signed into law. But the MPs should, as a matter of fact, shut up and consider themselves a disgrace to the brilliant citizens of this nation.
Ends

Journalism Standards in Kenya

Journalism Standards in Kenya

By Francis Mureithi

August 10, 2007

Concerns have been raised over the proliferation of commercial colleges purporting to offer professional journalism training in the country.

It is worth to note that while the government appears zealous to regulate the media through legislation, it has failed to regulate the training of journalists in Kenya to enhance professionalism.

In Nairobi for instance, there are at least 10 such colleges, which are churning out what we term as half-baked journalists who then proceed to seek employment in mainstream and independent media.

Due to lack of quality training, most of the graduates from these schools are unable to grasp the technical demands and values of journalism and have become an embarrassment to the profession.

It is a well-known fact that some of these colleges are awarding diploma certificates to young people after just one month of pretending to train them.

These colleges also lack equipment and do not have qualified staff. On the other hand, parents or guardians of students in these colleges are charged exorbitantly despite the fact that low quality education is imparted to the learners.

Even as the government, politicians, the media and other stakeholders duel over the Media Bill recently passed by Parliament, we believe that these colleges are a major contributor to the malpractices that are drawing the public’s wrath towards the Kenyan Media.

That is why the government must immediately take measures to streamline the training of journalists in the country.

Before the government start talking of regulating the media though legislation, it should first enforce the existing laws to bring sanity in the training of journalists by setting standards in the country’ journalism schools.

It is vital that the government investigates the existing commercial journalism colleges mainly in Nairobi and ensures that those, which do not meet the required standards, are closed down.

President Kibaki must reject this Media Bill

By Francis Mureithi

August 4, 2007

Parliament in Kenya has passed a legislation that, by all standards, is draconian and which President Mwai Kibaki should reject to sign into law.

The House passed the controversial Media Bill after MPs sneaked in a clause requiring journalists to name their sources in court. This single clause has rendered the entire Media Bill retrogressive.

Concealing of sources by journalist is an integral part of universal journalistic practice. It remains an important avenue where by information is disclosed but the sources protected so that the parties involved are not endangered in any way.

As a matter of fact, when a journalist is compelled to reveal a source, the journalist will still be liable to that source, regardless of the circumstance because by confessing a source, a reporter breaches a promise of confidentiality.

If sources want you to disclose their names they will call you up. Otherwise it is meaningless and the moment you disclose them, that is the end of your cordial relationship.

And when whistle blowers know that in case of litigation they would be disclosed by the media houses, what they are likely to do is to hide in their cocoons even when they know things are going pretty wrong at their places of work.

This would be an encouragement to the corrupt individuals who will now have a free chance to plunder their public offices knowing that whistle blowers are scared stiff.

And is this good for our country? When mega corruption and other ills are orchestrated by those is power and those who get wind of such malpractices cannot speak out for fear of being disclosed incase of litigation, what a country will Kenya be?

That is why the President should decline to sign this Bill into law and return it back to the House until the contentious clause is amended. Otherwise, it would be another move of taking back our country to the old dark days.

Media Freedom

Why do Kenya's Communication and Information minister Mutahi Kagwe wants to gag media in Kenya through the Media Bill? Simple, he is a politician who wants the public to be kept in the dark even when politicians loot the public coffers!!!

Welcome to my blog. I am a journalist working in Kenya. It is time we knew each other!!