County Assembly Kicks Out Journalists

A leading media house has been barred from covering the Nyeri County Assembly proceedings due to alleged misreporting and incitement.

The journalists from Nation Media Group were also banned from covering all the Committee meetings at the Assembly. The Members of the County Assembly accused the media house of inciting the public through uncovering supposed misappropriation of funds by the county legislators.

The decision followed the publication of a report claiming that Nyeri MCAs had awarded themselves Sh180 Million, which they argued was meant for development and not personal use.

The MCAs also cited a report published on the dailies, revealing that the County law makers across the country, had awarded themselves a whooping Sh3 Billion in allowances in the last financial year.

Read Also: Nyeri MCAs Award Themselves Sh180 Million

They further claimed that the continued misreporting had caused strained relations between them and the public. The contentious report published by the media house was however, based on findings released by the Controller of Budget.

The action was condemed by Mukurwe-ini MP Kabando wa Kabando who came to the rescue of the journalists.

“That should not be allowed to happen in Nyeri. The County is the bastion of mid-20th century freedom struggle. The new dawn is incompatible with gagging media because of the Fourth Estate’s interrogative duty,” said the MP.

In the recent past, the County Executives have been on the front line in trying to gag the media from revealing alleged misuse of public funds.

Recently, West Pokot Governor Simon Kachapin ordered the removal of all media correspondents in his county claiming that they were concentrating on negative reporting.

Read Also: Get Out of My County, Journalists Told