Media Council of Kenya (MCK) Chief Executive Officer David Omwoyo backed a move by MPs seeking to bar journalists from accessing Parliament buildings.
The lawmakers made the demands accusing journalists of indecent dress code and extortion during an engagement with the MCK in Mombasa.
In a statement on Thursday, February 2, Omwoyo supported the lawmakers arguing that their demands on dress code were not a threat to press freedom in any way.
“MPs express reservations about dressing code of journalists. Dress codes in regulated spaces are not a threat to press freedom. Media ethics demands respecting people in their spaces,” he announced.
In addition, the MCK CEO warned anyone who would stand out to defend indecent dressing in the line of duty as a way of protecting journalists.
“Be wary of people defending nudity in parliament to allegedly protect press freedom,” he added.
The MPs had also accused some of the journalists of demanding handouts and misreporting.
"There seems to be a gap between the way Parliament conducts itself in terms of the way people dress and the team of journalists that we have," Kitui South legislator Rachel Nyamai lamented.
On the other hand, Kenya Parliamentary Journalists Association(KPJA) - an association of journalists drawn from different media outlets to access Parliament - noted that the hawk-eyed security and parliament orderlies don't allow anyone into parliament if deemed inappropriately dressed. The crackdown extends camerapersons.
“Apart from members and journalists, Parliament has its staff, personal assistants to MPs and visitors. If any of them dresses inappropriately, surely, can it be concluded that outrightly that person is a journalist?” KPJA questioned.
The development came after MCK on Friday, January 27, announced plans to recall all press cards used as proof of accreditation by journalists countrywide.
The move was aimed at containing growing cases of fraudsters masquerading as journalists with the intention of extorting unsuspecting members of the public.
