Things Are Thick For Kenyan Journalists As Report Reveals Damning Details About Press Freedom. See How We Performed Alongside Ethiopia And Somalia

In May 2013, as soon as he was sworn in, Uhuru Kenyatta made a promise to journalists during the World Press Freedom Day at a Media Council event held at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre (KICC).

He said that “My government will fight any attempts to gag the media or any other action that will cripple its operations.”

But as a new report by the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) reveals, the Kenyan media freedom is wanting with journalists being harassed legally i.e. getting threatened with lawsuits for coverage of a story, being terrorized or even physically harassed. The fact that that the advertisers and the so-called political owners are calling the shots only makes the situation shoddier.

Draconian laws have also contributed to the current problem as they have been seen as a way of gagging the media by “undermining self-regulation and for allowing for harsh fines and jail terms for journalists”.

Mohammed Ali, notable journalist who was once said to have gone into hiding

With the Uhuru Regime being described as “one of the most hostile regimes we have seen to press freedom” by one of Standard Groups editor David Ohito.

While the state of affairs is not as bad as Ethiopia and Somalia, it is still ‘a notoriously difficult time for journalists’.

In fact last year in terms of press freedom we have plummeted from position 71 in 2013 to position 90 in the press freedom index, and if the situation becomes graver we could drop even further in 2015.

Allan Namu described the stress as “subtle … but you can feel it” and foresees a future with more “social media mob justice”.

Source: Mail and Guardian