Journalists and civil society activists have demanded an immediate restoration of all the TV stations that were shut for airing Raila Odinga’s ‘swearing in’ on Tuesday.
Political Journalists Association chairman Isaac Ongiri, Kenya Union of Journalists Eric Oduor, activist Henry Maina, and NMG editor-in-chief Tom Mshindi made the call.
The lot, in a presser, said the media shutdown, which entered its third day on Thursday, is “serious economic sabotage to the media fraternity”.
The groups further castigated the government’s threats to arrest journalists saying they amount to pure intimidation and therefore, uncalled for.
Mshindi said the move by the government clearly indicated the intention is to delegitimise and criminalise the media industry.
Defining the shutdown as pure impunity, the Nation boss said there must be fair administration of justice.
“How do they expect citizens to obey the same law they are violating eight years after promulgation of the new constitution? We are headed back to the dark days,” he said.
“This has been the darkest moment for media but I urge all media players to stand firm and condemn the act.”
Maina also said that instead of resorting to shutting down the stations, the government should have considered legal routes.
“The normal procedure is for affected stations were to be served with court orders on the shutdown. Failure to observe this is a violation,” he said.
Maina said they are already in the process of seeking court orders to reinstate the stations and seek legal action on specific individuals behind the shutdown.
