BY DINNAH ONDARI
@dinahondari
Journalists’ safety and protection is a key indicator when assessing the status of media freedom. Under Section 6 of the Media Council Act 2013, the Media Council of Kenya has a mandate to “promote and protect the freedom and independence of the media” and “ensure the protection of the rights and privileges of journalists in the performance of their duties.”
Just like other functions under the Act, safety and protection of journalists is one of the tasks the Council takes very seriously. Notably, 2019 has been a nightmare to journalists when it comes to threats, harassment and physical attacks. Statistics compiled by the Council indicate that attacks targeting journalists in 2019 so far stand at 34, the highest in a period of three years. And we are only in August!
The incidents range from verbal threats, arrests, physical attacks, denial of access, destruction of equipment and other forms of intimidation against journalists.
When such incidents occur, the Council deploys various interventions depending on the nature of the violations. These include rapid response initiatives, issuance of advisories and facilitating victims to get justice.
On the latter, affected journalists have previously expressed dissatisfaction with the manner in which their cases are handled by police whenever they report. To address the challenge, the Council in mid-Junev wrote to the office of the Inspector General of Police in pursuit of a status update of the cases reported since last December. The cases were reported in police stations in various counties including Machakos, Nyeri, Nakuru, Trans Nzoia, Turkana, Bungoma, Meru, Wajir, Mombasa and Migori.
Out of the 34, 13 of the cases were reported to police and Occurrence Book (OB) numbers of obtained. For starters, this shows that while not all incidents qualify for reporting, journalists are not very enthusiastic with reporting attacks whenever they are affected.
The Council has observed that though journalists who fall victim to such violations are quick to publish the incidents on social media and through their respective media outlets, police reports are the least utilized forms of response, yet they are a critical step in pursuing justice under Kenyan laws.
This presents a challenge to the Council when it comes to follow-up with police because such reports form part of the critical records needed for cases to proceed to conclusion. Even for the journalists who report, the number of those who make subsequent follow-ups to ensure that the evidence and witness information that they are asked to provide is availed is a drop in the sea.
In response to the Council’s request, the office of the IG reported that out of the 13 cases whose OB numbers MCK presented only one case was active in court. The rest of the cases had either been withdrawn or gathering dust in police stations, thanks to non-cooperation form the complainants who are journalists.
Which then leads to the question, are journalists becoming a threat to themselves due to their disinterest in cases affecting their own welfare? In supporting journalists to access justice, the Council has a working partnership with Kenya Media Sector Working Group. Police and the office of the Director of Public Prosecution are key partners in the process. However, when incidents are not reported, it poses a challenge to the Council, and even police, on how to follow up the cases, yet journalists look up to MCK for safety and protection.
Resolution of complaints against the media and vice versa is also part of the mandate of the Council, and sometimes, out of court settlements are advocated for especially when both parties mutually agree to end the dispute. Journalists work within communities where they have established key relationships with sources, relationships which come under jeopardy whenever there is conflict. The council has therefore noted that a number of journalists have resorted to take the negotiation route in order to sustain the critical relationships with sources and foster co-existence with the communities they live in.
However, this can only work if both parties agree to be law abiding and uphold respect for each other. As a remedy, the Council carries out safety dialogues between journalists and the perpetrators, as well medial literacy forums with members of the public to give the latter an opportunity to understand the media and therefore foster good relations between them.
