Interior and Coordination of National Government Cabinet Secretary (CS) Fred Matiang'i and Information Communication Technology (ICT) CS Joe Mucheru have landed in Court over the decision to shut down three media stations.
This is after activist Okiya Omtatah sued the two Government officials alongside Attorney General Githu Muigai and Communication Authority (CA) over the decision to shut down KTN News, NTV, and Citizen TV.
Omtatah confirmed to Kenyans.co.ke that he had filed the petition at the Milimani Law Courts indicating that the matter would be cleared for the judge to hear at 2 pm.
In his petition, he wants the court to declare the media shutdown unconstitutional and the relevant authorities compelled to restore the transmission of the affected stations.
He faulted the Government bodies for abruptly shutting the free to air transmission on television channels without providing a warning or any valid reasons.
[caption caption="Okiya Omtatah"]
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"The CS issued an unsigned press statement published on its official statement justifying the ban on free to air transmission on television channels, and stating that the ban would last as long as the Government required to carry out investigations.
"This statement signals the return of KANU dictatorship which people of Kenya rejected, the Government urges the following unconstitutional and totally unacceptable position that it is justified to violate the Constitution and to break the law to keep the peace," part of the petition read.
Omtatah further remarked that if the country is under an emergency as was addressed by CS Matiang'i, the State could have invoked Article 58 of the Constitution by declaring the State Of Emergency.
"Hence, its pleas that it is addressing an emergency are unfounded in law and, therefore, invalid, null and void," he stated.
[caption caption="Activist Okiya Omtatah"]
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The Petitioner also wanted the court to order the compensation of the media houses by the government for pecuniary loss incurred during the switch off.
In his petition, Omtatah also wants the Government to compensate the general damages for violation of the media houses and the Interested Parties’ constitutional rights.
