Film Board Now Corrected on Coca-cola Advert

Communication Authority (CA) Director General Francis Wangusi has criticized the Kenya Film Classification Board (KFCB) over its recent control measures on specific television content including the Coca-Cola commercial.

Dr Wangusi on Thursday said that KFCB, which is headed by Ezekiel Mutua, was overstepping its mandate by policing content aired by broadcasters.

The CA boss added that KFCB was only allowed to rate aired broadcast content and not controlling it.

"As far as we know they are only supposed to advise on terms of general viewing and parental guidelines on above-18 content. That is the far they can go," said Wangusi.

Wangusi's comments come days after KFCB banned airing of all commercials with sexual innuendos and those on betting and gambling during watershed hours.

In a rejoinder, Outdoor Advertisers Association of Kenya Chairman Peter Odoyo on Thursday dismissed the guidelines, saying the board was seeking relevance.

Odoyo said that advertisers always operated within the prism of the law and KFCB should not try to sneak in irrelevant laws that would scare away investors.

"Before we are allowed to operate, we undergo a very rigorous process for approval, so KFCB should not try to sneak in irrelevant laws to the industry which will scare away both local and international investors," he said.

Adding that advertisers had a clear system to guide what was and what wasn't suitable for public consumption.

"They should stick to their mandate of regulating films”, he said.

Reports indicate that senior officials in the Ministry of Interior and National Coordination led by PS Micah Powon, held a daylong meeting with officials from the Betting Control and Licensing Board in regard to the guidelines touching on the betting industry.

"The ministry feels KFCB have overstepped their mandate, but we do not want to be seen as a government fighting each other, talks are ongoing," an anonymous source told the Standard.

Bloggers Association of Kenya Chairman Kennedy Kachwanya also dismissed the new guidelines, terming them irrelevant.

"What surprises us most is that the media is very quiet on this yet it infringes on their revenue," he posed.

Kachwanya said as bloggers, they will resist at all costs the "illegal regulations", which he said infringed on advertisers freedom.
 

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