Central Organisation of Trade Unions-Kenya (COTU-K) Secretary General, Francis Atwoli, has expressed his surprise at the decision by media houses to challenge the government’s directive on the live coverage of the June 25 protests.
Speaking during a media engagement, Atwoli questioned the decision by Standard Group and Nation Media to defy orders issued by the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) and continue to live coverage of the protests on their broadcast channels KTN and NTV respectively.
“I have been everywhere and I have never seen a government office directive being challenged in court,” Atwoli stated.
CA issued a directive to all TV and radio stations on Wednesday to stop the live coverage of the violent protests. The directive affected NTV, KTN and Citizen, major stations in the country.
In their orders, CA stated that by providing live coverage of the demos, the media houses contravened Articles 33(2) and 34(1) of the constitution.
The two Articles allude to the fact that although press freedom and independence of electronic, print, and all other types of media are guaranteed, they do not extend to propaganda for war, incitement to violence, hate speech, or advocacy of hatred that constitutes ethnic incitement, vilification of others, or incitement to cause harm, or is based on discrimination.
CA later acted by storming the NTV and KTN transmission stations and deactivating the free-to-air signal.
In separate statements, both media houses confirmed that this was a result of them continuing to broadcast the live coverage of the protests despite an order from the authority.
Conservatory orders
Atwoli also aimed a dig at the courts and legal practitioners, including the Law Society of Kenya (LSK), who got conservatory orders barring the CA from switching off the two stations after filing a petition challenging the constitutionality of CA’s directive.
“In the evening, they organised with a judge in court, with nobody in the office, and got an order directing the TV and radio stations to continue as usual,” Atwoli stated.
The conservatory orders came after a massive public outcry, with CA being accused of acting unconstitutionally by restricting press freedom. Lobby groups, including the Kenya Human Rights Commission, had initially urged broadcasters to defy the directive.
CA restored the signals of KTN and NTV on Thursday morning allowing them to broadcast on their free-to-air channels. A spot check by Kenyans.co.ke confirmed that Signet's signals for KTN, NTV, and K24 were back on air on Thursday morning after being dark for a good part of Wednesday.
The June 25 protests were being held in honour of Gen Zs who lost their lives during the 2024 anti-Finance Bill demos. Despite being most prevalent in Nairobi's Central Business District (CBD), the protests were witnessed in other parts of the country such as Mombasa, Nakuru, Kisii and Kajiado.
