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Zambia media bodies petition Kenyan govt

Zambia media bodies petition Kenyan govt
Written by Constance Matongo
Wednesday, January 07, 2009 3:07:03 PM

THREE media bodies in Zambia have petitioned the Kenyan government for signing the new retrogressive media legislation.

The Press Freedom Committee (PFC) of the Post, Press Association of Zambia (PAZA) and Media Institute of Southern Africa (MISA) signed a petition through the Kenyan High Commission.

“We strongly condemn the decision by President Mwai Kibaki to assent to the bill inspite the heightened protests and appeals not to go ahead. This piece of legislation we believe is retrogressive and ill-conceived in nature as it threatens the fundamentals of freedom of expression including freedom of the press,” the statement read. “As media practioners in Africa, particularly, Zambia, we are concerned that Kenyan authorities are setting a bad precedent to other African countries.”

The media bodies stated that it was shocking that Kenyan authorities were working towards stifling the media when most countries in the world were ensuring that press freedom was upheld as one of the fundamental human rights.

In addition, the media bodies stated that the power given to the security minister to restrict media operations in a state of emergency was undemocratic given that a state of emergency was bad enough in a democracy.

“We also believe that discretionary power given to the security minister to switch off broadcasting stations at will is not only excessive but also a serious violation of fundamental freedom of expression of citizens,” read the statement. “The power to seize equipment from ‘erring’ broadcasting stations without court order undermines not only media freedom but property rights of media owners.”

The three media bodies also stated that the new law violated the East African Community Treaty and several other international instruments to which Kenya was a signatory.

The further called on the Kenyan government and other progressive citizens to individually and collectively safeguard democratic practice by upholding press freedom in the interest of good governance and accountability.

They also called on the Kenyan government to avert a possible crisis arising from lack of consensus by all stake holders on the enactment of the controversial bill.

“We note that major stakeholders such as media practitioners, media associations and even Kenyan Coalition partners –orange democratic Movement led by Prime minister Raila Odinga, the general citizenry have not been adequately consulted in this matter,” the statement read in part.

The media bodies also said the Kenyan government should suspend the law and create an enabling environment for further inclusive consultations with all stakeholders.

“We further appeal to the UN, the African Union and other watchdog media organisations to step up the responses to the Kenyan situation,” stated the media bodies./JC

Labels: FREEDOM OF SPEECH, KENYA, MEDIA, MWAI KIBAKI, PFC, THE POST

posted by MrK @ 3:08 PM