WORLD PRESS FREEDOM DAY: Of Information Bills, and Schools on Bars

By IPS Correspondents Reprint | | Print |

Joyce Mulama

NAIROBI, May 2 2006 (IPS) - As preparations to mark World Press Freedom Day (May 3) in Kenya move into high gear, calls for government to pass a freedom of information bill are intensifying.

“The (bill) will guarantee not only freedom for the media to access government information, but will also give the public the right to this information,” Absalom Mutere, chairman of the Media Council of Kenya (MCK) board of trustees, told IPS. The council, based in the capital of Nairobi, is an independent body that seeks to improve journalistic standards.

A draft Freedom of Information Bill has been drawn up, but has yet to be tabled in parliament.

As it stands now, the constitution provides for freedom of expression, but fails to stipulate a right to information. A new constitution that had included provisions for press freedom as well as access to information was rejected by Kenyans during a referendum held in November 2005 – largely because of fears that the draft also gave the presidency too much power.

The appeal for a freedom of information bill comes amidst broader concerns about the state of the press in Kenya. On Mar. 2, officials raided the studio of the Kenya Television Network (KTN) and the printing press of its sister newspaper, ‘The Standard’. Transmission was paralysed in the process, forcing KTN to go off air for 14 hours – while thousands of copies of that day’s paper were set alight.

KTN, ‘The Standard’ and other media outlets had been critical of alleged government involvement in a series of corruption scandals. Officials claimed reports carried by KTN and ‘The Standard’, which form part of Kenya’s second-largest media house, were inciting the public to unrest.

The scandals included the so-called Anglo Leasing scam, which first came to light in 2004. It concerned the awarding of two contracts to a fictitious company, Anglo Leasing and Finance: one for supplying equipment to produce passports that could not be forged, another for constructing forensic laboratories for the police. Officials reportedly paid close to 90 million dollars to the company for these services.

In January, the contents of a dossier that gave further information about the Anglo Leasing scandal were leaked to the press, prompting the resignation of Energy Minister Kiraitu Murungi, and his counterpart at finance, David Mwiraria.

The dossier, by former permanent secretary for governance and ethics John Githongo, revealed how ministers had tried to prevent investigations into the Anglo Leasing matter from going ahead.

Education Minister George Saitoti resigned the following month over another scam, the Goldenberg affair. This scandal took place in the early 1990s, and involved the fictitious export of gold and diamonds under an export compensation scheme – costing Kenya more than 600 million dollars. Saitoti was finance minister and vice-president at the time.

These developments have highlighted the need for a free press in Kenya. When evidence of graft surfaces, says Joe Kadhi – a journalism scholar and lecturer at the United States International University-Kenya – “…you need the fourth estate to play its watchdog role more efficiently. For this to happen, the media itself must be free and independent.”

For its part, government often accuses the media of behaving irresponsibly – a claim that the MCK’s Mutere concedes may have some merit.

“The biggest challenge is the low standards of professionalism that have penetrated the industry. There are many journalism schools that have mushroomed, some even on top of casinos and bars,” he remarked.

“The gutter press has also infiltrated the industry and even comedians are coming into the market.”

The Media Council of Kenya Bill, yet to be tabled in parliament, seeks to give the MCK powers to regulate the media. Among other things, the bill lays down standards for the conduct and disciplining of journalists and the media, and also provides for training in a code of ethics.

In a bid to address the proliferation of journalism schools which are not worth the name, the MCK has further established the Media Educators and Trainers Association. This body will deal with curricula for journalism schools, as well as the matter of accreditation.

Concerns about media freedom in East Africa are not restricted to Kenya. The fourth African Media Leadership Conference, held in Nairobi last month, highlighted an increase in repression throughout the region – notably in Uganda, Tanzania, Eritrea and Ethiopia.

In addition, the conference – which brought together leading media representatives from 12 African countries – sounded an alarm over the fact that several countries in East Africa were seeking to pass legislation that would allow the media to be regulated by authorities, or already had such laws in place.

Fears about media freedom in East Africa were echoed in a statement by the Ethiopian Free Press Journalists in Kenya, received by IPS last week.

“We have fled our country due to the crackdown on freedom of expression in 2005 and in earlier years. We came to Kenya by foot, leaving our families behind to avoid persecution and imprisonment by the Ethiopian government,” it noted. There are 10 Ethiopian journalists exiled in Kenya at present, according to the statement.

Last year, 80 people died in Ethiopia during clashes between police and persons demonstrating against election results, believed to have been rigged. Authorities jailed eighteen reporters at the time; all have been denied bail.

“Our colleagues now face charges such as treason, genocide and attempting to overthrow the constitution,” said the Ethiopian Free Press Journalists in Kenya.