A+
From: David Makali
[mailto:dmakali@yahoo.com]
Sent: March 11, 2013 5:18 PM
To: Edith Adera
Cc: KICTAnet - Media Editors Forum;
KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions
Subject: Re: [mediaeditors] [kictanet]
Role of the Media in Kenyan Elections
I disagree:
This boils down to the role of the media in a
democratic society. Is it to abet the erosion of
rights or to promote transparency and the
expression of the popular will of the people? i
see people on this forum trying to tweak the
responsbiility of the media to their selfish
interests - peace, investment and other pr
concerns. those whose rights have been trampled
by a fraudulent election are portrayed as a
distraction in the grinding mill of our
oh-so-good democracy and pretended peace. their
protests are being pooh-poohed as anti-peace. i
would rather not be part of this peace and
tranquility bandwagon and stare the hard facts
in the face. i would rather opt for the painful
truth and justice path. it is the route to long
lasting peace and democracy. it is the
rationalisation of injustice and wrongdoing that
breeds dictatorship and oppression. we must
decline the popular excuses at every election
that we are young and maturing, that in the
interest of peace, we gloss over our failures
and move on. this time, let us get it right.
there should be no violence, but neither should
threats of incitement be used against those who
pursue their rights or the truth.
the media has an obligation not just to give
voice to those who are aggrieved but to go out
on a limb to establish the veracity of their
grievances. they cannot abdicate that
responsibility as they have so far done on the
pretext of keeping the peace. a sleeping press
is not good even for peace. no.
- makali
"If my
doctor told me I had only six minutes to live,
I wouldn't brood. I'd type a little faster."
— Isaac Asimo, Columbian Author and Scientist
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PO Box
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Suppressed
opinions can be worse!
I
happened to witness, first-hand,
the Ghanaian campaigns and read
about the elections; and the
comments from Kenya’s IEBC chair,
who was an observer, about how
they were conducted, how the media
gave the citizens the space to air
views even when things did not
work including during the
challenging of the elections. You
know and can attest to the fact
that Ghanaians are NOT the lot to
silence (your Nigerian brothers
are even more vocal). Ghanaians
speak their minds and air their
views freely. A Ghanaian once told
me “when it comes to politics,
every Ghanaian is a political
analyst; when it comes to
football, every Ghanaian is a
football commentator”…you can’t
silence them.
Why
do you want us to be different?
Don’t talk about Post-election
violence, as Ghana has gone
through worse.
My
point, why did we have this effect
of silencing voices? What are the
implications of the deafening
silence from the citizenry?
From: Eric Osiakwan
[mailto:ericosiakwan@me.com]
Sent: March 11, 2013
12:37 PM
To: Edith Adera
Cc: KICTAnet - Media
Editors Forum; KICTAnet ICT
Policy Discussions
Subject: Re: [kictanet]
Role of the Media in Kenyan
Elections
Sometimes,
it is better not to say nothing
or pretend to be stupid for life
to go on than to speak (demand
your right) and end up with
"violence" and life retrogresses
- just saying.....
I
think you Kenyans should really
commend yourselves, you have
raised the bar on electoral
conduct and peaceful outcomes no
matter how long it takes -- the
level of maturity exhibited by
the average Wananchi is awesome.
I saw first hand the level of
investment that went into this
election by government, media,
parties etc and by all means
those investments must pay off
-- democracy is an expensive
enterprise.
Something
just hit me, Nigeria elected a
55year old President and Ghana
followed suit by electing a
54year old and now you Kenyans
have elected a 51year old -- the
youngest President if am not
wrong (i stand corrected) and i
have noting against the older
folks but i think this is
significant....
Edith,
in other words what am saying
is, dont beat yourself too hard,
Nigeria invested in a voters
register that did not turn out
well but their elections was
scored above board, Ghana
invested in biometrics for our
last elections and it did not
work out well but we scored
above board and Kenya has done
same, raising the bar. Offcourse
we need to do introspection and
better the processes and systems
for the future, starting now.
For
now, am just excited for Africa,
we would fix this continent of
ours and make it the best place
for generations to come
#AfricaIsInMotion.
Good
day and great week, ya all.
For
the 2007 elections, Bwana
Ndemo is on record here
(KICTANET) condemning the
role of the media in fueling
the violence.
In
2013, the media played a
different role. If you now
reflect back – deep and hard
– it occurred to me that the
over-rated, over-hyped,
over-done "call for peace"
was actually a "tool of
oppression"!!
Why do I say
this? Many a Kenyans found
themselves speechless and
voiceless….you were not
given a chance to speak your
mind, to question, to freely
air your opinions or
liberally reflect on the
going ons. You were
promptly slapped with the
"peace call” which
immediately silenced you!
Why should I feel silenced
by “a call for peace”? Our
national anthem talks of
“peace and liberty”, what
happened to “liberty” during
this period?
Most Kenyans
locked themselves in their
houses, scared stiff of the
unknown. Reflecting back it
was truly a "silence tool".
In my view,
what is going on in Kenya is
God’s birth of a NEW KENYA.
It is NOT (and I repeat NOT)
about THE WINNER or THE
LOSERS (Do NOT get me wrong
– I don’t mind about that).
It is about laying a NEW
FOUNDATION for Kenya that is
built on TRUTH
(RIGHTEOUSNESS) and JUSTICE,
especially during this
Jubilee period (50 years of
our existence as a nation as
we enter into the next 50
years – the next Jubilee).
From now on,
and as our national anthem
aptly states, JUSTICE will
truly be our SHIELD and
DEFENDER.
Sustainable
peace (not FALSE PEACE) is
built on the foundations of
TRUTH (righteousness) and
JUSTICE.
Quote: I
should like to be able to
love my country and still
love justice (Albert
Camus)
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The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a
multi-stakeholder platform for people and institutions
interested and involved in ICT policy and regulation. The
network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT
sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth
and development.
KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable
behaviors online that you follow in real life: respect
people's times and bandwidth, share knowledge, don't flame
or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do not spam, do
not market your wares or qualifications.