The ICT Cabinet Secretary, Joe Mucheru, has threatened to degazette 15 journalists he recently appointed to the Technical Working Group that will steer media debates ahead of the August 9 polls.
Mucheru, on Tuesday, April 12, stated that he was under unnecessary pressure by media owners who accuse him of interfering with their mandates and limiting media freedom.
The CS, appointed the journalists to the Technical Working Group on Community and Local Language Media to oversee gubernatorial, senatorial and woman representatives' debates on vernacular radio stations.
“Why would we be wasting time playing around with media, yet we can degazette the people and we move on. What is the problem?
“The Media Council of Kenya, all these media owners and journalists came together and appointed a CEO. They also had their own legal counsel when exercising this process. When they bring me a name and say this is what we agreed, should I say no so that they write another press castigating me?” Mucheru wondered.
He further argued that the complaints were a non-issue and he may be prompted to relieve the journalists of their roles in order to allow due process to be followed.
According to Mucheru, his work was to ratify decisions made by the media bodies. He defended the decision to appoint the committee stating that he received names from media stakeholders and none of the appointees was his favourite as widely claimed.
"Out of those appointed, none is ‘my people’. We gazette them as requested. If they have their own internal issues, then they ought to resolve the matters themselves,” Mucheru lashed back.
Among those selected to the Technical Working Group on Community and Local Language debates included renowned Radio Citizen presenter, Vincent Ateya and former Royal Media Services LTD Programmes Manager, Simaloi Dajom.
Others were former ex-Citizen TV news anchor Tom Mboya, Roly Davila, Stephen Kangogo, Rose Wakio, Leo Mutisya, Joel Karanja, Susan Karago, Jonah Ngare, Kevin Nyangweso, Martin Maasai and Joseph Kipkoech.
Sammy Muraya was selected to chair the committee, deputized by Phylis Wakiaga, the Chief Executive Officer of the Kenya Association of Manufacturers (KAM).
