Environment Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale has demanded an apology from Citizen TV over a controversial news item aired by the media house last night.
Duale, speaking on Thursday afternoon, expressed his dissatisfaction after the media house, which is owned by Royal Media Services (RMS), used the term ‘Somali region’ while referencing the counties of Garissa, Wajir, and Mandera.
The news outlet reportedly made an error while reporting on a High Court ruling that cancelled the census results for the three counties when it allegedly referred to the North Eastern counties as the Somali region.
The High Court had on Tuesday annulled the 2019 Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (KNBS) census results for Garissa, Mandera, and Wajir counties, citing significant irregularities.
Justice John Onyiengo in his ruling, ordered KNBS to conduct a fresh round of census in the affected counties within one year. Following the ruling, the judge directed the affected residents to use the 2009 census results.
However, the phrase used in reporting the matter did not go down well with the former defence minister who questioned the use of the term 'Somali region' by the media house.
It is worth noting that Somali is a Cushitic ethnic group whose ancestry originates from the Republic of Somalia. The Somali community is considered the largest ethnic group in the Horn of Africa.
Nonetheless, a section of the Somali community is also found in Kenya, Ethiopia and Djibouti with other small groups found in the Middle East and Western countries.
According to Duale, the decision to refer to the three counties as the Somali region was absurd, irresponsible, discriminatory and contravened the tenets of good journalism.
Duale clarified that Wajir, Mandera and Garissa were counties located within the sovereignty of the borders of Kenya and thus terming them as part of the Somali region was unethical.
“Somali region? Absurd, irresponsible, discriminatory and ethnic profiling journalism, Garissa, Wajir and Mandera counties are within the sovereign and territorial borders of the Republic of Kenya,” Duale stated.
“Royal Media Service must correct and apologize. You are not different from those who schemed to doctor the census results in 2019 of that region. Kenya is one united country.”
