On Tuesday three media stations suffered an indefinite shutdown following an order from President Uhuru Kenyatta.
Citizen TV and Radio, KTN and NTV had their signals switched off for disregarding a warning from the head of state who did not want them to have a live coverage of Raila Odinga's swearing-in ceremony which was taking place at Uhuru Park.
The media gag has no match in Kenya's independence history.
According to analysts, the clampdown makes a mockery of the media purge of the past years.
In 2006, Former US President Barrack Obama - the then Illinois Senator, assertively condemned Internal Security Minister the late John Michuki.
Michuki had ordered a raid against Standard Group in 2006 which involved burning of newsprints, mercenaries and confiscation of broadcast equipment.
Like the present gag, the raid was sanctioned by a no-nonsense Internal Security Minister, who like Matiang'i, had first won huge public approval by restoring order in the transport sector.
Dr Matiang'i was thriving from public approval ratings for restoring order in the education sector.
Michuki's order came in barely a year since the then First Lady Lucy Kibaki had stormed the Nation Media Group demanding the arrest of a reporter who had written a story about her.
[caption caption="File image of former Internal Security Minister John Michuki"]
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She then slapped a cameraman and confiscated a notebook from another reporter.
Before these post -2002 incidents, the media had experienced a fair share of raids in KANU days.
The rounds of a shutdown of Royal Media Services, Citizen TV when it was starting off in early 2000 were as dramatic as was the resilience of its founder SK Macharia.
[caption caption="Royal Media Services chairman SK Macharia"]
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History indicates that in the 80s and 90s, anti-media purges zeroes on individual journalists while the institutions were spared to learn and thrive.
Newspapers were banned from reporting in parliament.
Although the high court ordered the government to switch on the affected media stations' signals, they have not acted on the order yet.
[caption caption="Interior CS Fred Matiang'i"]
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Fred Matiang'i insisted that they will remain closed until when all investigations are over and they are cleared to get back on air.
