Environment CS Aden Duale was scheduled for an interview on Spice FM’s morning show, The Situation Room, on February 26. But it was cancelled.
Duale took the decision badly. “Spice FM owners have abruptly cancelled my interview,” the CS protested. “This move speaks volumes, and now you can clearly see The Standard newspaper’s recent headlines. Just yesterday, the impeached Gachagua was given an open stage on KTN News to peddle falsehoods and wild imaginations.”
Spice FM ought to have publicly explained their decision to Duale and the audience. But Duale also needed to fight fair. Instead, he chose to hurl everything at The Standard.
Around that time, a smear campaign was unleashed online against the media house under the hashtags #Sewagejournalism and #NTVBuysKTN.
And then on March 17, the government hit the Standard Group. Then Broadcasting and ICT Principal Secretary Edward Kisiang’ani announced the cancelation of an advertising contract with the group.
Media organisations and Kenyans online rallied behind the Standard, with notable influencers condemning Kisiang’ani’s directive and urging Kenyans to support the media house by buying the paper and tuning in to their stations.
“Kuna uwezekano kuwa machungu haya ya serikali yanatokana na hali ya Standard kuripoti kuhusu vile matukio yalivyo, yaani [There is a possibility that the government reaction is due to Standard’s reporting on issues]-calling a spade a spade and not a big spoon,” the media house said in an editorial read out in its stations.
“Kama Standard Group tutasalia imara na kuendeleza wajibu wetu wa kwanza, ambao ni kwa umma. Hatutatishwa na mbinu kama hii ya kunyanganywa matangazo ya biashara na kampeni katika mitandao ya kijamii zinazolenga kutuchafulia jina.” [As a media house, we will remain steadfast and continue to uphold our primary responsibility, which is to the public. We will not be intimidated by tactics such as the withdrawal of advertising revenue or social media campaigns aimed at tarnishing our reputation.]
On March 20, the High Court overturned a directive issued by Kisiang’ani last year restricting government advertising to the state broadcaster KBC. The same day, the PS was demoted and moved to the President’s economic council as an adviser.
The media broke out in jubilation. “Condemned tyrant,” The Standard screamed. The previous day the paper had branded Kisiang’ani “Enemy of press”.
“Journalists have the last laugh as Kisiang’ani falls,” the Daily Nation rejoiced. “The don was a familiar face on TV screens as a political commentator. After realising his dream of joining the government, he became the biggest tormentor of journalists,” the paper wrote.
This is not just about the Standard or Kisiang’ani. Kenya has witnessed a relentless narrowing of the democratic space, particularly through press freedom and human rights violations, since Kenya Kwanza came to power in 2022.
The war on The Standard comes after a wave of abductions, killings, detention and torture of government critics. Journalists have also been targeted by police while covering protests.
The image that emerges is one of a government that is intolerant of dissent and resorts to violence and other strong-arm tactics to weaken and silence critics.
The resources of our country, including taxpayers’ money used for government advertising, belong to all of us. The “plenty be found within our borders” we pray for in the National Anthem should be used to benefit all Kenyans, institutions and businesses, but not to exclude or punish those who question government or hold a different view.
Lawyer Ndong Evance writes that, “The directive by the government to cancel advertisement tenders to select media houses is more than a financial decision. It is a veiled attack on press freedom and a violation of the constitution. By financially starving independent journalism, the government is attempting to control public narratives and silence dissent.”
While on the face of it, the punishment is meted on the Standard Media Group, the attack targets the entire industry and democracy. Journalists belong to one tribe. A threat to one media house is a threat to the entire tribe. The repression is intended to warn others to engage in self-censorship or suffer a similar fate. It is meant to have a chilling effect throughout the industry and country.
A weak and timid press cannot robustly watchdog government or effectively empower citizens with the information they need to make sound choices for their private lives and the management of their country.
On March 10, the Kenya National Civil Society Centre warned of attempts “to intimidate and disconcert the media in the hope that in so doing the media will desist from reporting on the glaring waste, mismanagement and misappropriation of public finances.”
“As the Fourth Estate, the media plays an indispensable role in a democracy, especially in this age when information is the driving force of economic advancement, informing the public on what is going on; uncovering and highlighting abuses of the kind that the Controller of Budget and the Auditor General have consistently unearthed; and helping to put pressure for their rectification,” KNCSC executive director Suba Churchill wrote.
With the fall of Kisiang’ani, the media has won against powerful repressive forces. But the threat to press freedom and democracy remains. Journalists must stay unbowed and pursue their constitutional mandate with vigour, courage and utmost professional rigour. Good journalism is never neutral: it’s always on the side of the truth, because to pretend to be neutral in the face of oppression is to be on the side of the oppressor.
See you next week!
