Matiang’i pledged to meet with Attorney General Githu Muigai and the chairman of the Commission for the Implementation of the Constitution Charles Nyachae to look into grievances being raised in the Bill/FILE
He said there was no cause for alarm over the Bill which now awaits the President’s assent into law after it was approved by the National Assembly on Thursday.
Matiang’i pledged to meet with Attorney General Githu Muigai and the chairman of the Commission for the Implementation of the Constitution Charles Nyachae to look into grievances being raised in the Bill.
“The powers of the legislative arm of government are unfettered; you cannot control Parliament on how they deal with legislation,” he said. “Now that Parliament has passed the legislation, we need to ask if the room for dialogue is closed – I don’t think it is.”
“Freedom of the press is not under attack in Kenya,” added Matiang’i.
His sentiments came as media practitioners and rights activists castigated the passage of the Media Bill saying it would impede a free media and entrench judicial control of the press if adopted as law.
Media Owners Association Chairman Kiprono Kittony said the Bill as approved by the National Assembly has clawed back on the gains made by the media in Kenya which is considered a leader in the region.
“To create an authority that is government controlled to determine all matters of content and to impose draconian fines of up to Sh20 million for media houses and Sh1 million for journalists with a possibility of de-registration for life is an attempt to muzzle the media,” Kiprono said.
The Bill proposes the establishment of the Communications and Multimedia Appeals Tribunal to address media complaints as opposed to the current situation where grievances are addressed through the Media Council of Kenya.
A journalist found to have violated any information-related law will be liable to pay a fine of over Sh1 million with the affected media house paying Sh20 million. The tribunal will have the power to recommend the suspension or deregistration of a journalist involved in any violation.
Capital Group Managing Director Cyrus Kamau said the media should be allowed to practice self-regulation.
“We want to be responsible Kenyans but the moment the Secretary for Information has powers to appoint that tribunal it will never be free,” he stated.
“They are retrogressive, dictatorial and they take this country back to the political Stone Age. We negotiated with these MPs and they have shown singular bad faith. We will carry this battle to the next stage and fight every attempt to deny the media of this country freedom,” said Media Council of Kenya Chairman Joseph Odindo.
Lawyer Ahmednasir Abdullahi through his Nairobi Law Monthly publication has vowed to challenge the constitutionality of the law in court if President Uhuru Kenyatta signs it.
“Nairobi Law Monthly magazine gives notice that in the unlikely event that H.E. Uhuru Kenyatta assents to the media Bill it will challenge its constitutionality,” Abdullahi tweeted.
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