ICT Cabinet Secretary Joe Mucheru on Tuesday appeared before the Senate ICT committee to explain the media shutdown that occurred a month ago.
Mucheru, who had dodged the summons to the committee twice, declined to answer questions on the media shutdown stating that it was a matter of national security.
He added that the matter was in court and that it could not be discussed in public.
"I am not hiding, I am following due process in the law. At the moment the matter is in court and we cannot discuss it because we are on TV. And also it is a matter of national security.
[caption caption="ICT Cabinet Secretary Joe Mucheru"]
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"After the court case, we can have more details on the matter but not at this stage," he told the committee chaired by Baringo Senator Gideon Moi.
Kenyans.co.ke has established that matters on National Security are handled by the National Security Council which is chaired by President Uhuru Kenyatta.
According to Article 240 of the Constitution 2010 through which the council is established, the Uhuru-led council is directed to report annually to Parliament on the state of the security of Kenya.
Currently, it comprises of the Deputy President William Ruto, Cabinet Secretaries for Interior Fred Matiang'i, Defence Raychelle Omamo and Foreign Affairs Monica Juma, The Attorney General Paul Kihara Kariuki, Chief of Kenya Defence Forces Samson Mwathethe, Director-General of the National Intelligence Service Philip Kameru and Inspector-General of the National Police Service Joseph Boinnet.
Furthermore, the Council can deploy national forces outside Kenya with the approval of Parliament.
[caption caption="Uhuru Chairing NSC meeting in 2013"]
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During the session, Senator Moi, who strongly condemned the TV station's switch-off, stated that the committee was determined to get to the cause of the drastic move by the government.
"We are determined to know the truth of the matter. This unfortunate, ugly situation must be resolved. We will get back to you so as to try and resolve this issue. It is important that they should not happen again," he maintained.
Here is the video courtesy of KTNNews:
[video:]
