8 March 2006
GOVERNMENT RAIDS MEDIA OUTLETS AMID CORRUPTION SCANDALS
Kenyan authorities are under fire from press freedom groups for ordering what has been called the biggest crackdown on the country's press since independence, amidst a series of corruption scandals that have put the government on the defensive.
On 2 March 2006, heavily armed police in Nairobi raided the offices of the Kenya Television Network (KTN) and forced the station off the air.
Simultaneously, another raid was carried out on the printing house of "The Standard", the country's second largest daily, where police seized and burnt thousands of copies of the 2 March issue, disabled the printing press and confiscated equipment, including computers, reported the African Free Media Foundation (AFMF), the International Press Institute (IPI) and the World Association of Newspapers (WAN).
Two days earlier, three "Standard journalists" - editor Chaacha Mwita and reporters Ayub Savula and Dennis Onyango - were arrested. They have since been charged with "publishing false rumours with the intention of panicking the public" and released on bail.
Their trial has been set for 24 April. They face up to three years in prison. Two other journalists reportedly face the threat of arrest.
The raids are believed to be connected to a story published in "The Standard", which claimed that President Kibaki recently held a secret meeting with opposition leader and former environment minister Kalonzo Musyoka to discuss a possible political alliance. Musyoka was fired by Kibaki last year.
Kibaki, who came to power on an anti-corruption platform in 2002, has been under increasing media scrutiny over a series of corruption scandals that have implicated senior officials. In February, Kenya's former anti-corruption chief, John Githongo, revealed to the BBC taped evidence of a government minister trying to impede a corruption inquiry.
On 20 February, police raided the offices of the tabloid newspapers "Weekly Citizen" and "The Independent", confiscating equipment and documents and arresting several journalists, reported the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ). Police also detained news vendors selling the publications, which are known for provocative reporting on sex and political scandals.
The "Weekly Citizen" had published a front-page story alleging that President Mwai Kibaki was not in control of the government. Three reporters and at least two other newspaper employees could face criminal charges. They include reporters Josphat Mativo, Ken Teyie and Austin Alwaka. The reasons behind the raid on "The Independent" were unclear.
Visit these links:
- IFEX Alerts on Kenya: http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/39/
- AFMF: http://www.ifex.org/en/content/view/full/72599/
- RSF: http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=16616
- CPJ: http://www.cpj.org/news/2006/africa/kenya28feb06na.html
- Freedom House:
http://www.freedomhouse.org/template.cfm?page=22&year=2005&country=6765
- Fears for Press Freedom in Kenya: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4770784.stm
- Former Minister Blows the Whistle on Corruption: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/4695354.stm
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