Outrage over senator Cheruiyot’s remarks branding media cartel that needs to be crushed
The remarks by Senate Majority leader Aaron Cheruiyot branding the Fourth Estate a cartel that needs to be crushed for the sake of public good has elicited uproar among stakeholders including journalists.
In his tweet, the senator stated that the media and banking sectors were cartels who would do anything to protect each other’s interests.
“President William Ruto will succeed in crushing every cartel in the country save for two that are extremely powerful; 1 KE Banks (Kenyan banks), 2. KE Media (Kenyan media). Both are very powerful, influential and synergise so well to protect each other’s interest. For public good, a way must be found,” he tweeted.
His statement elicited diverse outrage to what journalists term an ostensible threat to press freedom that has hardly been fought for in the country.
Through a statement, Kenya Editors Guild President Churchill Otieno said the senator’s utterances are a threat to media freedom and an affront on the country’s democracy.
“The Kenya Editors’ Guild is alarmed by a reckless and worrying post on Twitter by the Senate Majority Leader Aaron Cheruiyot on Monday, March 6, 2023 upbraiding the media as a cartel. Cheruiyot, in his ill-omened classification, divulges that President William Ruto is intentioned on crushing Kenya’s media, alongside the Banking Sector,” he said
“It is dumbfounding that the Senator sees the media as a cartel rather than a catalyst of Kenya’s democratic discourse without which, many politicians of his ilk would never have emerged to become anything worth quoting. If we are to take his comment seriously, the Senator is saying that the President is keen to crush the media. We hope he is wrong and that President Ruto and his government have no such designs,” he added.
Additionally, Kenya Correspondents Association (KCA) Chairperson William Oloo termed the remark an assault on media freedom.
“It’s unacceptable for a member of parliament who legislates laws to talk about the media being a cartel. We will work very hard and mobilise the entire media fraternity to defend media freedom and Article 34 of the Constitution,”
Kenya Union of Journalists Secretary-General Eric Oduor termed the tweet the biggest threat to press freedom in recent times.
“If anybody in the government had a problem with the media let them come forward through the Media Complaints Commission and I am sure the matter will be resolved,” he added.
He noted that if anyone in the government had a problem with the media, the right resolution would be to go through the Media Complaints Commission.
Today, the Kericho senator told off the media claiming that what he said was the truth and the uproar elicited by his remarks was a clear indicator behind the truth to his sentiments.
“So what’s NMG and RMS’ point? That we should allow the cartels therein to thrive uninterrupted? Even as they drag the practice of journalism to its lowest ethical standards ever. Really!! Sometimes the truth hurts but must still be said,” he stated.
Last month Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua called out the media accusing the press of being sponsored by ‘milk cartels’.
He claimed that sections of the media were being sponsored to fight him by an alleged cartel in the milk business.
