‘Tiba za Kiasili’ programme in Sauti ya Mwananchi FM fails ethical test

From posters on electricity polls to newspapers adverts, traditional healers are slowly finding their way into radio stations. A BBC News report, ‘Letter from Africa: Doctors’ take on traditional healers in Kenya’, published March 23, 2016, points out that:

“…like elsewhere in Africa, traditional healers or herbalists are everywhere in Kenya, and they say they can cure everything. A quick look at the pages of our daily newspapers says it all. You will find herbalists proudly advertising their services, not just in the newspapers, but also on posters stuck on streetlamps.”

From streetlamps and newspapers to radio stations, televisions and social media, traditional healers are adapting to the massive influence of mainstream and social media.

In African traditional societies, healers and herbalists were the go-to to specialists prior to the onset of modern healthcare systems. According to the 2002 World Health Organisation strategy on traditional medicine, in developing countries, accessibility, affordability, and the fact that traditional health services are firmly embedded in belief systems are seen as the main factors propelling popularity of traditional healers.

The concept of traditional healers has however taken a dramatic turn with the commercialisation of services, casting into doubt the ability/skills of some of the promoters. Use of radio stations is becoming common in promoting this practice.

The conditions have changed and the battle for their space against the modern health system persists. The publication by BBC further states that:

“The services of a traditional healer are indispensable. As long as there are marriages to be rescued, football games to be won and businesses to be resuscitated, the healers are here to stay.”

A monitoring report by a media analyst on Sauti ya Mwananchi radio, January 24 to 29 2022, reveals the extent to which some of the traditional healers market themselves to sustain their businesses.

The show is dubbed ‘Tiba za Kiasili’. The conversation below is dated January 25, 2022.

Paul Kamau: Naomba kujua nyota yangu

Daktari Baba Nyota: Nyota yako ni aina ya mshale, shida zako zinazokukumba ni shida za kibiashara.

Paul Kamau: Ni ukweli daktari

Daktari Baba Nyota: Unafanya kazi ya kuuza magari lakini unauza kwa kukopa, wanakulipa hela kidogo wanakuletea hela kidogo baadaye.

The ‘doctors’ also promote their make-believe services with the use of signs and objects such as mirrors to manifest problems/ailments of ‘unknown’ callers and promise use of a mirror to reflect the patient’s problems and offer solutions at a cost that is repeatedly aired.

Lydia: Sawa sawa daktari, nitatembea na nini na nini.

Daktari Baba Nyota: Utatembea na kioo na shilingi 2,200. Kioo kinasaidia kuona shida zako na kuziona, tutaziona nawe unaziona.

Repeatedly running such a show by the ‘doctors’ in a radio station will definitely make it believable – despite being deceptive and manipulative. It is the kind of show that promotes false hope among the listeners, asking them to gamble with their hard-earned money.

Sauti Ya Mwananchi FM should understand that it is responsible for all the content that it broadcasts despite issuing disclaimers. Issuing a disclaimer followed by broadcast of unethical and manipulative content is inexcusable.

While WHO advocates for an organised health system that incorporates both modern and traditional health systems, the Constitution of Kenya is silent on the practice of traditional healers. The Penal Code, too, does not come out clearly about excesses of the practice, fairly highlighting only matters fortune-telling (Section 319).

The Witchcraft Act Chapter 67 of 2012 only talks about witchcraft and has no mention of traditional practices such traditional healing. There is a need for laws and policy defining traditional healing, acceptable practices and the limits to the practice to protect Kenyans from the manipulative and unethical practices of ‘doctors’ seeking to exploit naïve citizens.

However, even with these legal lacunae, the Media Council Act (No 46 of 2013) aims at ensuring adherence to high standards of journalism as provided for in the Code of Conduct for the Practice of Journalism in Kenya. Promoting such practices by radio stations can amount to possible breaches of clauses 1, 3, 4 and 24 on accuracy and fairness, integrity, accountability, and advertisements.

In conclusion, whereas community stations might find such programmes commercially viable, by advertising the ‘doctors’, they should stand up and weed out unethical practices in their programming that seek to exploit their listeners. They should also familiarise themselves with the Code of Conduct, which provides for ethical standards among journalists and in the media for sustained professionalism and a media accountable to the public.