Africa

Kenyan court suspends government’s ban on TV channels

Ruling party blocked broadcasts over coverage of opposition leader’s mock inauguration

Kenyan opposition leader Raila Odinga of the National Super Alliance stands next to Kalonzo Musyoka, campaign leader Musalia Mudavadi and Moses Wetangula during a news conference in Nairobi. Photograph: Baz Ratner/Reuters

Thu Feb 1 2018 - 14:50

A Kenyan court on Thursday suspended a government shutdown of three TV channels that was prompted by their coverage of opposition leader Raila Odinga’s symbolic presidential inauguration this week, one of the channels reported.

NTV Kenya, three of whose journalists said they had spent the night in their newsroom in fear of arrest, said on its Twitter feed that the privately owned broadcasters were expected back on air after the high court ruling.

"Government expected to restore NTV, Citizen TV & KTN News signals after High Court suspends switch off for 14 days pending case being heard," it tweeted.

The government shut down the TV channels on Tuesday as they began coverage of a rally during which Mr Odinga – who says last year’s elections, won by president Uhuru Kenyatta, were rigged – declared himself president in a brief, symbolic ceremony.

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The shutdown, unprecedented in Kenya’s democratic era, prompted fierce public criticism and raised fears the country was reverting to the censorship that characterised decades of repressive one-party rule under strongman Daniel arap Moi.

The court’s decision – to suspend the shutdown for two weeks while a case challenging the legality of the government’s action is heard – will boost the newly-independent judiciary’s image in east Africa’s regional powerhouse and wealthiest economy.

Court officials were not immediately available for comment.

The government’s attempted censorship made global headlines about a country that is valued by investors for its stability, relative freedom and steady economic growth.

"This is clearly a slide to dictatorship. It's a return to a repressive period we had forgotten about," NTV journalist Larry Madowo told Reuters. "We are becoming another African country."

NTV journalist Ken Mijungu told Reuters that he and colleagues Madowo and Linus Kaikai had all been warned by security sources on Wednesday that their arrest was imminent.

In African states with entrenched rulers such as the Democratic Republic of Congo and Cameroon, governments have asked telecommunications companies to block social media, mainly during elections and protests.

On Wednesday, the Kenyan government had said the TV stations would stay off air indefinitely.

Interior minister Fred Matiang’i accused media organisations of facilitating Mr Odinga’s “illegal act”, which he said put the lives of thousands of Kenyans at risk.

Clashes between supporters of Mr Odinga and security forces claimed about 100 lives during the election season. Almost all were killed by the police.

Also on Wednesday, police arrested opposition politician Tom Kajwang for illegally administering Mr Odinga's "oath". He was expected to be charged on Thursday but was taken out of court by police before the charges were read.

Repeat election

Mr Kenyatta won an August 8th election that was later nullified by the supreme court over irregularities. A repeat election was held on October 26th, but Mr Odinga boycotted it because he said the electoral commission had made insufficient reforms.

Mr Kenyatta won with more than 98 per cent of the vote.

Mr Odinga, whom the government accuses of trying to force a bloody confrontation with the authorities, gave no hint in his five-minute speech at Tuesday’s rally about future actions and deflected questions on Thursday about his next move.

“We want [ruling party] Jubilee to accept that they lost the election,” he told a news conference, promising to release details of his plan the next day.

The opposition leader accused the government of suspending the constitution by attacking the media, and batted away suggestions his staged inauguration was a bid to seize power.

“I am not a megalomaniac. I am a very reasonable Kenyan,” Mr Odinga said. – Reuters

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