The Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) on Wednesday, March 22, warned six TV stations of how they covered Azimio’s mass action rallies on Monday, March 20.
According to the regulator, the stations were deemed to have covered the demonstrations in a way that violated the programming code.
CAK through its Director General Ezra Chiloba further gave strict instructions on how future live demonstrations should be covered.
“The Authority has established that at least Six TV stations, namely, Citizen TV, NTV, K24, KBC, TV47 and Ebru TV provided coverage in a manner that violated the programming code.
“The coverage depicted scenes that could cause panic or incitement to the public, threatening peace and cohesion in the country,” the statement from CAK read in part.
CAK revealed that live broadcasting of inciting scenes should not be hidden under the guise of freedom of the press.
“While the Authority promotes freedom of the press, it is imperative that all broadcasters exercise caution in live broadcast coverage in order to avoid scenes that would be detrimental to peace and cohesion,” the media stations were warned.
Chiloba warned that the TV stations would be switched off should they not moderate their live coverage in subsequent mass rallies.
“Failure to adhere to the outlined obligations shall be acting in breach of licence conditions, which shall attract liability under relevant provisions of the law, including revocation of broadcast licence and/or broadcast frequencies,” he warned.
The warning by Chiloba is a reminder of January 2018, when the government switched off media during NASA demos led by Odinga.
The then Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i ordered the switching off of NTV, KTN and Citizen after they covered Raila Odinga’s mock swearing in.
“As a result of what happened yesterday, we have commenced investigations targeting individuals. Media houses will remain closed until we complete investigations,” Matiang’i stated back then.
