Synopsis
The Kenyan media have become complacent
and are failing to play its watchdog role. Nowadays they don’t focus with zeal on
government misdeeds. They are ‘wasting’ the considerable Press freedom that has
been accorded to them.
The media remains one of the most
powerful entities in any given country. Their power lies in the ability to
greatly influence public opinion towards a given issue or subject through use
of mass media. They play a watchdog role; exposing corruption, poor governance
and all sorts of malpractices or societal ills. Basically, while they pursue
their business interests, they should also act on the concern of the public. In
some countries, however, their power has been greatly curtailed by dictators
who crush to ash any media that is criticizes the government.
The
Kenyan media has come a long way, survived the dark ages and are now enjoying
considerable freedom as espoused in the constitution. They are among the lucky
few who enjoy the elusive virtue in the African continent ranked at 14th
position in Africa and 71 in the world by Reporters
without Borders’ Press Freedom Index 2013. However, in the recent times,
the Kenyan media seem to have lost their quest in fighting for public good; pro
bono. They have relaxed and are contented with the profits they make from the
business.
The
period 2003-2007 saw the media keep the government in check and quite often, we
could hear reports on schemes in government to empty the public coffers ranging
from Triton Scandal to Anglo-Leasing Scandal. The media exposed the greedy
politicians who fleeced the publics the hard earned tax. In 2007 general
elections, they helped expose wide election malpractices which unfortunately
did end up in violence that saw slightly over 1000 people lose their lives. The
media did not escape the blame despite the fact they that they played their
role as watchdog and information disseminators.
This
was the turning point for the Kenyan media. The media become passive in their
watchdog role which was further complicated by a raft of legislations that
sought to clip their muscle. One of the notable legislation was the Kenya
Communications (Amendment) Bill 2008.Also known as the “ICT Bill”, the new
legislation provides for heavy fines and prison sentences for press offences. It
also gives the government, above all the information and interior ministries,
authority over the issuing of broadcast licences and the production and content
of news programmes. The resistance to the law was unsuccessful as the government
of the day remained adamant and the then President H.E Mwai Kibaki signed it
into law. The media has been advocating for self-regulation while the
government wants direct control.
Perhaps
the biggest let down by the media was during the 2013 general elections. They
failed to scrutinize the election process which had grave electoral
malpractices. They, instead, chose to turn a blind eye to the evil taking place
during the election period. The public had nowhere to express their opinion since
the only savior had become complacent. All they did was to gag the public with
multiple peace messages yet they failed to focus on the real issues that could
have resulted to peace destabilization. It did not occur to them that justice
begets peace and that absence of war does not translate to peace. People were
merely pretending and trying to tolerate each other in the wake of divergent
opinion on how the elections were conducted.
After the elections, the media went ahead to
tell the public to accept the results as they are and move on. This was the
worst part of their complacency. They never cared about the issues raised by
the now opposition party that were critical and warranted attention. Meanwhile,
the social media was the new battle ground as supporters of the two coalitions
exchanged harsh words maligned with lots of bile yet the media was happy that
they have successfully maintained peace. This is far from the truth and the
truth is that the latent hate still exists and as a matter of fact we are
actually sitting on a time bomb that will explode in the future if the issues
of equality and justice are not fully redressed.
Back
to the media focus, we have been able to witness a number of issues that has
besieged the new government for instance, the biased public appointments, security
lapse, and corruption among others. The Judicial Service Commission (JSC)
scandal that saw wastage of public money was not number one news item but was 6th
news item in one of the local TV stations. Can one relate the current cold blow
by the media to the breakfast meeting they had with the government?
