That was quick -- and bound to happen much sooner rather than later. Barely 4 months ago (July 11th to be precise), at a State House Nairobi gathering with members of the Kenyan press corps, these were President Uhuru Kenyatas words: Today we had the pleasure of hosting the Fourth Estate at State House. A free media is at the heart of true democracy. I am happy that in Kenya, we don’t even have a debate about free media any more. That for me is given. Our commitment is to better ensure how the media can more effectively support our democracy by promoting prudent governance. That was then. Now please pardon me for being rather naive or overly optimistic about what appeared at least from a distance, to be the dawn of a new era in Kenyas march towards a legitimate and relatively open democracy. I must admit that as a Ugandan who is constantly forced to endure the stifling of the press using rather medieval tactics, I felt rather envious, if not downright jealous. I even put a good friend of mine who is highly placed at one of Ugandas media houses, to task over Kenyas momentous leap forward. They were making us look pretty pedestrian, I said. And yet I now find myself in a most unenviable situation of eating humble pie, with generous servings of crow! A bungled and ignominious response to a terrorist attack later, this is now. When the sheen finally wears off and the emperor along with his dogs lose their clothes and reveal their thin skins, that oft-used and stale line is promptly invoked -- propaganda meant to incite the public! Kenyas new government is learning fast; that in Africas pseudo-democracies, toying with mbu press freedom and the right to free expression, is a fools errand. Obviously the Kenyan authorities (and undoubtedly their counterparts across the border in Uganda) are yet to learn that producing the news is not just another business. It’s an important part of any democracy. It keeps the public informed, helps it decide how to vote in elections, exposes corruption, and digs up important information that governments and corporations would rather keep private, to the detriment of the public at large. But George Guthrie, a press photographer in Tom Stoppard’s play Night and Day, may have said it best. After a long exploration of the importance and failings of the press, Guthrie sums it up rather nicely near the end: “I’ve been around a lot of places. People do awful things to each other. But it’s worse in places where everybody is kept in the dark. It really is. Information is light. Information, in itself, about anything, is light. That’s all you can say, really.” mobile.nation.co.ke/News/Reporters-face-arrest-for-exposing-Westgate-looting/-/1950946/2044972/-/format/xhtml/-/mqp5cb/-/index.html David Drew Rita Amos Fredson Francis Moses Mary Muganga Stephen
Posted on: Thu, 24 Oct 2013 06:16:12 +0000
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