In 2018, former Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang'i shut down three local TV stations Citizen TV, NTV, and KTN for breaching security protocols leaving numerous journalists in limbo.
While recalling the 'dark' times in the media industry, CNN's Larry Madowo recounted being forced to seek anticipatory bail - a judicial jargon he was not familiar with at the time.
In a social media post seemingly directed at former Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang'i dated Friday, February 10, Madowo shared photos of him and other scribes including Citizen TV's Linus Kaikai addressing the press outside the court in 2018.
"After we got anticipatory bail 5 years ago. I didn’t even know that was a thing before we needed it. Kenyan Interior minister at the time, Dr. Fred Matiang’i, had shut down the country’s top TV stations days earlier.
"It was a wild time. Someday I’ll write about it with receipts. But that day is not today," he stated.
Interestingly, Matiang'i had allegedly objected to the move allowing the journalists to seek anticipatory bail, a predicament he found himself in on Thursday, February 9.
After accusing the police of raiding his Karen home on the night of Wednesday, February 8, the former CS was criticised for seeking anticipatory bail despite his prior opposition to the same.
The High Court in Nairobi, nonetheless, granted Matiang'i the anticipatory bail - which is granted when an applicant proves to the court that their right to liberty is likely to be compromised or breached by a state organ charged to protect their right.
The CS through his lawyers moved to court over an alleged late-night police raid at his Karen home on Wednesday, February 8.
However, several government bodies including the Directorate of Criminal Investigations (DCI) and the Ethics and Anti-Corruption Commission (EACC) dismissed claims that officers were sent to the former CS's home.
"Our preliminary findings have uncovered evidence of a well-coordinated and deliberate attempt to spread false information and incite public fear, unfortunately, spearheaded by a person of the standing of a former Interior Security Cabinet Secretary," the DCI boss Amin Mohamed stated.
KTN News anchor Ken Mijungu, who was part of the journalists forced to seek shelter at NTV offices along Kimathi Street alongside Madowo, had, on January 31, 2023, also shared a photo of beddings spread on the floor where the journalists spent the nights to hide from the authorities during the media shutdown.
"It has been five years since we slept under the table at Nation FM and ran away from former President Uhuru Kenyatta’s government after NTV adamantly broadcasted what they did not want. A safe house here and there, we later landed in court," he wrote.
