Re: [kictanet] [ke-internetusers] Kenya communications (amendment) Bill: Is media overacting?
I too, feel that this is overreaction and misrepresentation by the media. How many of the very vocal media personalities who appeared protesting have even read the proposed legislation? If they did, they would see that the powers granted are only applicable during a state of emergency. Other laws set out the process and conditions by which a state of emergency can be called. Our experiences with the post-election crisis this year exposed how partisan and instrumental media can be to fuel discontent and in many cases, media related information was used to take lives. Have the more responsible media houses forgotten so quickly the regret and guilt they expressed, when they started crying out for peace - after they realised how seriously wrong their transmissions were taken by the public? It is true that when Govt invited stakeholders to make representations regarding the bill, the media houses that bothered to send personnel sent only very junior officials - there's no knowing what kind of feedback/representations these underlings took back to their bosses. How many media houses sent representations to the house committee that was responsible for the bill when they were invited to do so? To what extent did they engage with informed contributions, proposed modifications or even proposed text to replace the offending sections? People need to realise that things like this don't happen overnight, law-making is a process that provides any citizen with the right and the opportunity to make their views felt and known. The masses that have been mobilised by the media houses should have been in Mombasa when govt, the house committee and stakeholders were meeting to among other things look at sections of the Kenya communications amendment act - not now, when their elected representatives have yielded to the due process and submitted the bill to the President. my two-pence, Brian On 12/13/08, Grace Bomu <nmutungu@gmail.com> wrote:
I had signed up for the mars group protest yesterday on the representation that it was a protest on food prices and MP'S refusal to pay taxes. I am disgusted that the media have used our voices for their causes exclusively, disregarding ours. As a Kenyan, i think there should be a review on cross-ownership of media if democracy is to thrive. Also, considering the role of the media in fueling ethnic/ regional backlash since 2003, isn't there need for a check on them? There may be misgivings on the arbitraly powers conferred to the Minister in charge of security but media has to be checked. The media should give suggestions on alternative ways to check them instead of using all their airtime and acres of newspapers to win public sympathy. Finally, they should stop branding it ' media bill' as the bill is not a conspiracy against media but a bill to amend the communications act.
-- Sent from Gmail for mobile | mobile.google.com
Grace L.N. Mutung'u +254721898732 +254736091242 Kenya _______________________________________________ ke-internetusers mailing list ke-internetusers@bdix.net http://www.bdix.net/mailman/listinfo/ke-internetusers
-- Brian Munyao Longwe e-mail: blongwe@gmail.com cell: + 254 722 518 744 blog : http://zinjlog.blogspot.com meta-blog: http://mashilingi.blogspot.com
The democratic system requires parliament to be a counter balance to the powers of the executive and the judiciary autonomous enough to be a middle ground. In the school of parliamentary process, the people submit their will by electing one person to represent them and that person is not to do his own bidding but that of the people. Hence there is resources for the parliamentarian to be in constant touch with the people as a channel. Now the parlimanetary process also has it's own inbult mechansim of cross-checking the effort of the parliamentarian so it makes efforts through committees and "special groups" on subjects to reach the people, this is coupled with the fact that one can make submissions through these committee or "special groups". Unfortunately, the self serving interest of the parliamentary representative has grown to the extent they dont even consult the people anymore. Ideally, every parliamentarian is suppose to go to his or her constituency with this bill and consult extensively so they present what the peoples' will and determination is. I see a big failure of that. I also see a big failure of the committee's effort to let the people understand why there is a clause with that expectation. Now given the failure, people resort to the institution of the media which to a large extent is the fourth estate and in this case, the interest of that institution is at stake, what else do you expect? I think at the root of this is the decandence that has eaten into our democratic establishment and it is important we deal with the root. It is more interesting in the context of Kenya at this time in history because you have a "coalition government" which means there is "no true opposition" to balance the forces that be, hence the media becomes a critical institution and to some extent, rises to the "3rd estate" in a manner of speaking so you shoot yourself in the foot when you try to enact such clauses in a legislation. In my view the inability of the electoral process to produce a clear and viable opposition means, the state institutions have lost some level of credibility and we stand at a tipping point where issues like "forcing some parts of this bill through" can undo all the transitional gains that has being made. Folks, lets be careful and take a cue from what is happening in Greece. Eric here On 13 Dec 2008, at 18:36, Brian Longwe wrote:
I too, feel that this is overreaction and misrepresentation by the media. How many of the very vocal media personalities who appeared protesting have even read the proposed legislation? If they did, they would see that the powers granted are only applicable during a state of emergency. Other laws set out the process and conditions by which a state of emergency can be called.
Our experiences with the post-election crisis this year exposed how partisan and instrumental media can be to fuel discontent and in many cases, media related information was used to take lives.
Have the more responsible media houses forgotten so quickly the regret and guilt they expressed, when they started crying out for peace - after they realised how seriously wrong their transmissions were taken by the public?
It is true that when Govt invited stakeholders to make representations regarding the bill, the media houses that bothered to send personnel sent only very junior officials - there's no knowing what kind of feedback/representations these underlings took back to their bosses.
How many media houses sent representations to the house committee that was responsible for the bill when they were invited to do so? To what extent did they engage with informed contributions, proposed modifications or even proposed text to replace the offending sections?
People need to realise that things like this don't happen overnight, law-making is a process that provides any citizen with the right and the opportunity to make their views felt and known. The masses that have been mobilised by the media houses should have been in Mombasa when govt, the house committee and stakeholders were meeting to among other things look at sections of the Kenya communications amendment act - not now, when their elected representatives have yielded to the due process and submitted the bill to the President.
my two-pence,
Brian
On 12/13/08, Grace Bomu <nmutungu@gmail.com> wrote: I had signed up for the mars group protest yesterday on the representation that it was a protest on food prices and MP'S refusal to pay taxes. I am disgusted that the media have used our voices for their causes exclusively, disregarding ours. As a Kenyan, i think there should be a review on cross-ownership of media if democracy is to thrive. Also, considering the role of the media in fueling ethnic/ regional backlash since 2003, isn't there need for a check on them? There may be misgivings on the arbitraly powers conferred to the Minister in charge of security but media has to be checked. The media should give suggestions on alternative ways to check them instead of using all their airtime and acres of newspapers to win public sympathy. Finally, they should stop branding it ' media bill' as the bill is not a conspiracy against media but a bill to amend the communications act.
-- Sent from Gmail for mobile | mobile.google.com
Grace L.N. Mutung'u +254721898732 +254736091242 Kenya _______________________________________________ ke-internetusers mailing list ke-internetusers@bdix.net http://www.bdix.net/mailman/listinfo/ke-internetusers
-- Brian Munyao Longwe e-mail: blongwe@gmail.com cell: + 254 722 518 744 blog : http://zinjlog.blogspot.com meta-blog: http://mashilingi.blogspot.com _______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet
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Eric M.K Osiakwan Director Internet Research www.internetresearch.com.gh emko@internetresearch.com.gh 42 Ring Road Central, Accra-North Tel: +233.21.258800 ext 7031 Fax: +233.21.258811 Cell: +233.24.4386792
Hi Eric and all, I can relate to some aspects of what you are saying here . As a Kenyan citizen it’s like being squeezed between a rock and a very very hard place. The irony of it all is really painful to watch and experience. On one hand we have members of parliament who have lost and continue to lose integrity and on the other the media whose role in the post election conflict leaves one with a horrible taste in the mouth and sense of foreboding if this bill is thrown out. What does a Kenyan do when some law makers refuse to pay taxes, are implicated in post election conflict, in various scandals including the recent maize meals prizes, etc. What does one do when the same media that claims to publish/broadcast the truth takes sides in politics with terrible consequences? The Kenya communications amendment bill is a good bill that should have been enacted five years ago and yes indeed there were consultations at various levels and for a long period of time with various stakeholders. Further, similar to the Kenya ICT policy 2006, the media did not pay attention or even bother to be part of the process of developing it despite the policy window offered and provided for by the government. I also suspect that they (media) have not really looked/read this bill carefully, but are forcibly mobilising people and using civil society voices for their own interest in their attempt to gain public support. They have not bothered to educate the public on the entire bill; rather they continue to pick a couple of clauses omitting the important aspects of this bill. But on the other hand, and sadly, having observed our MP's conduct you would be forgiven if you wondered whether they should be making of any laws, having lost so much credibility. (Views expressed here are personal and not a reflection of any of the institutions I am affiliated with) best alice Eric M.K Osiakwan wrote:
The democratic system requires parliament to be a counter balance to the powers of the executive and the judiciary autonomous enough to be a middle ground.
In the school of parliamentary process, the people submit their will by electing one person to represent them and that person is not to do his own bidding but that of the people. Hence there is resources for the parliamentarian to be in constant touch with the people as a channel. Now the parlimanetary process also has it's own inbult mechansim of cross-checking the effort of the parliamentarian so it makes efforts through committees and "special groups" on subjects to reach the people, this is coupled with the fact that one can make submissions through these committee or "special groups".
Unfortunately, the self serving interest of the parliamentary representative has grown to the extent they dont even consult the people anymore. Ideally, every parliamentarian is suppose to go to his or her constituency with this bill and consult extensively so they present what the peoples' will and determination is. I see a big failure of that. I also see a big failure of the committee's effort to let the people understand why there is a clause with that expectation.
Now given the failure, people resort to the institution of the media which to a large extent is the fourth estate and in this case, the interest of that institution is at stake, what else do you expect? I think at the root of this is the decandence that has eaten into our democratic establishment and it is important we deal with the root.
It is more interesting in the context of Kenya at this time in history because you have a "coalition government" which means there is "no true opposition" to balance the forces that be, hence the media becomes a critical institution and to some extent, rises to the "3rd estate" in a manner of speaking so you shoot yourself in the foot when you try to enact such clauses in a legislation.
In my view the inability of the electoral process to produce a clear and viable opposition means, the state institutions have lost some level of credibility and we stand at a tipping point where issues like "forcing some parts of this bill through" can undo all the transitional gains that has being made.
Folks, lets be careful and take a cue from what is happening in Greece.
Eric here
On 13 Dec 2008, at 18:36, Brian Longwe wrote:
I too, feel that this is overreaction and misrepresentation by the media. How many of the very vocal media personalities who appeared protesting have even read the proposed legislation? If they did, they would see that the powers granted are only applicable during a state of emergency. Other laws set out the process and conditions by which a state of emergency can be called.
Our experiences with the post-election crisis this year exposed how partisan and instrumental media can be to fuel discontent and in many cases, media related information was used to take lives.
Have the more responsible media houses forgotten so quickly the regret and guilt they expressed, when they started crying out for peace - after they realised how seriously wrong their transmissions were taken by the public?
It is true that when Govt invited stakeholders to make representations regarding the bill, the media houses that bothered to send personnel sent only very junior officials - there's no knowing what kind of feedback/representations these underlings took back to their bosses.
How many media houses sent representations to the house committee that was responsible for the bill when they were invited to do so? To what extent did they engage with informed contributions, proposed modifications or even proposed text to replace the offending sections?
People need to realise that things like this don't happen overnight, law-making is a process that provides any citizen with the right and the opportunity to make their views felt and known. The masses that have been mobilised by the media houses should have been in Mombasa when govt, the house committee and stakeholders were meeting to among other things look at sections of the Kenya communications amendment act - not now, when their elected representatives have yielded to the due process and submitted the bill to the President.
my two-pence,
Brian
On 12/13/08, *Grace Bomu* <nmutungu@gmail.com <mailto:nmutungu@gmail.com>> wrote:
I had signed up for the mars group protest yesterday on the representation that it was a protest on food prices and MP'S refusal to pay taxes. I am disgusted that the media have used our voices for their causes exclusively, disregarding ours. As a Kenyan, i think there should be a review on cross-ownership of media if democracy is to thrive. Also, considering the role of the media in fueling ethnic/ regional backlash since 2003, isn't there need for a check on them? There may be misgivings on the arbitraly powers conferred to the Minister in charge of security but media has to be checked. The media should give suggestions on alternative ways to check them instead of using all their airtime and acres of newspapers to win public sympathy. Finally, they should stop branding it ' media bill' as the bill is not a conspiracy against media but a bill to amend the communications act.
-- Sent from Gmail for mobile | mobile.google.com <http://mobile.google.com>
Grace L.N. Mutung'u +254721898732 +254736091242 Kenya _______________________________________________ ke-internetusers mailing list ke-internetusers@bdix.net <mailto:ke-internetusers@bdix.net> http://www.bdix.net/mailman/listinfo/ke-internetusers
-- Brian Munyao Longwe e-mail: blongwe@gmail.com <mailto:blongwe@gmail.com> cell: + 254 722 518 744 blog : http://zinjlog.blogspot.com meta-blog: http://mashilingi.blogspot.com _______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke <mailto:kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke> http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet
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Eric M.K Osiakwan Director Internet Research www.internetresearch.com.gh emko@internetresearch.com.gh <mailto:emko@internetresearch.com.gh> 42 Ring Road Central, Accra-North Tel: +233.21.258800 ext 7031 Fax: +233.21.258811 Cell: +233.24.4386792
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Brian, The meeting was not made public knowledge. If it had been then possibly more would have attended. Myself included. The Communications Bill contains many well thought out policies that will benefit Kenya in its quest to become an leader in information and communications technology in the region. I read the bill when it came out in its first draft form and twice more during the consultation and amendment period. The bill is still not ready to be passed into law. As it is a serious piece of legislature it needs more discussion especially in open public forums. Once the general public and the media take an issue with a piece of legislation it should be tabled and discussed until necessary revisions are made. I would like to reiterate this bill is not ready to be passed into law. If it is I would encourage the media institutions to challenge its legality in court. It has already been rejected in the court of public opinion. If what Dr. Ndemo and others say about the ability of the president to amend the act, although Kibaki is in a catch 22, he should see that the media stays free. What Kenyans should be afraid of is giving the government the power to decide on what dictates a "state of emergency". This has been used in other countries to suppress the masses and give all control to a few powerful individuals. The control of the many by the few is something we already see in Kenya. Information and communications technologies are to improve INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATIONS. The proliferation of Kenyan content cannot be stilfed by the law or many will shy away from their use due to fear. Crystal On Sat, Dec 13, 2008 at 6:36 PM, Brian Longwe <blongwe@gmail.com> wrote:
I too, feel that this is overreaction and misrepresentation by the media. How many of the very vocal media personalities who appeared protesting have even read the proposed legislation? If they did, they would see that the powers granted are only applicable during a state of emergency. Other laws set out the process and conditions by which a state of emergency can be called.
Our experiences with the post-election crisis this year exposed how partisan and instrumental media can be to fuel discontent and in many cases, media related information was used to take lives.
Have the more responsible media houses forgotten so quickly the regret and guilt they expressed, when they started crying out for peace - after they realised how seriously wrong their transmissions were taken by the public?
It is true that when Govt invited stakeholders to make representations regarding the bill, the media houses that bothered to send personnel sent only very junior officials - there's no knowing what kind of feedback/representations these underlings took back to their bosses.
How many media houses sent representations to the house committee that was responsible for the bill when they were invited to do so? To what extent did they engage with informed contributions, proposed modifications or even proposed text to replace the offending sections?
People need to realise that things like this don't happen overnight, law-making is a process that provides any citizen with the right and the opportunity to make their views felt and known. The masses that have been mobilised by the media houses should have been in Mombasa when govt, the house committee and stakeholders were meeting to among other things look at sections of the Kenya communications amendment act - not now, when their elected representatives have yielded to the due process and submitted the bill to the President.
my two-pence,
Brian
On 12/13/08, Grace Bomu <nmutungu@gmail.com> wrote:
I had signed up for the mars group protest yesterday on the representation that it was a protest on food prices and MP'S refusal to pay taxes. I am disgusted that the media have used our voices for their causes exclusively, disregarding ours. As a Kenyan, i think there should be a review on cross-ownership of media if democracy is to thrive. Also, considering the role of the media in fueling ethnic/ regional backlash since 2003, isn't there need for a check on them? There may be misgivings on the arbitraly powers conferred to the Minister in charge of security but media has to be checked. The media should give suggestions on alternative ways to check them instead of using all their airtime and acres of newspapers to win public sympathy. Finally, they should stop branding it ' media bill' as the bill is not a conspiracy against media but a bill to amend the communications act.
-- Sent from Gmail for mobile | mobile.google.com
Grace L.N. Mutung'u +254721898732 +254736091242 Kenya _______________________________________________ ke-internetusers mailing list ke-internetusers@bdix.net http://www.bdix.net/mailman/listinfo/ke-internetusers
-- Brian Munyao Longwe e-mail: blongwe@gmail.com cell: + 254 722 518 744 blog : http://zinjlog.blogspot.com meta-blog: http://mashilingi.blogspot.com _______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet
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-- Crystal "Naliaka" Watley Voices of Africa crystal@voicesofafrica.org http://www.voicesofafrica.org/ "You must be the change you wish to see" - Gandhi
Crystal et. al., Other than for a few if any, you are preaching to the choir on matters of the need for a "free and fair" press. We have been on the job as stations were shut down but that does not cloud our objectivity. We must discuss a fair way forward on specifics scenarios pointed out by Bill Kagai and others. Do not forget that the media has not been acting "free" and "fair". A fair press would have been objective and would not conspire and document their intention to sway public opinion through biased reporting (see the Action Plan in this thread). Way forward: 1. President fails to ascent: We are stuck with Section 88 for another 6months at a very minimum. No guarantee we'll make progress on the other aspects after losing 6months of much needed reforms. 2. President ascents. We still have Section 88 but this time, we are better off as a country on all other aspects of the Bill. If the media wants support in 6months for a separate Bill to repeal Section 88, then they can lobby us and the MPs for support. Note that the media you call "free and fair" abused their licence provisions through the "Action Plan" to manipulate the public to support them. The one-sided reporting continues except on K24 TV. Let's be very fair and honest in our proposals. Wainaina On 12/15/08, Crystal Watley <crystal@voicesofafrica.org> wrote:
Brian,
The meeting was not made public knowledge. If it had been then possibly more would have attended. Myself included.
The Communications Bill contains many well thought out policies that will benefit Kenya in its quest to become an leader in information and communications technology in the region. I read the bill when it came out in its first draft form and twice more during the consultation and amendment period. The bill is still not ready to be passed into law. As it is a serious piece of legislature it needs more discussion especially in open public forums. Once the general public and the media take an issue with a piece of legislation it should be tabled and discussed until necessary revisions are made. I would like to reiterate this bill is not ready to be passed into law. If it is I would encourage the media institutions to challenge its legality in court. It has already been rejected in the court of public opinion.
If what Dr. Ndemo and others say about the ability of the president to amend the act, although Kibaki is in a catch 22, he should see that the media stays free. What Kenyans should be afraid of is giving the government the power to decide on what dictates a "state of emergency". This has been used in other countries to suppress the masses and give all control to a few powerful individuals. The control of the many by the few is something we already see in Kenya. Information and communications technologies are to improve INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATIONS. The proliferation of Kenyan content cannot be stilfed by the law or many will shy away from their use due to fear.
Crystal
On Sat, Dec 13, 2008 at 6:36 PM, Brian Longwe <blongwe@gmail.com> wrote:
I too, feel that this is overreaction and misrepresentation by the media. How many of the very vocal media personalities who appeared protesting have even read the proposed legislation? If they did, they would see that the powers granted are only applicable during a state of emergency. Other laws set out the process and conditions by which a state of emergency can be called.
Our experiences with the post-election crisis this year exposed how partisan and instrumental media can be to fuel discontent and in many cases, media related information was used to take lives.
Have the more responsible media houses forgotten so quickly the regret and guilt they expressed, when they started crying out for peace - after they realised how seriously wrong their transmissions were taken by the public?
It is true that when Govt invited stakeholders to make representations regarding the bill, the media houses that bothered to send personnel sent only very junior officials - there's no knowing what kind of feedback/representations these underlings took back to their bosses.
How many media houses sent representations to the house committee that was responsible for the bill when they were invited to do so? To what extent did they engage with informed contributions, proposed modifications or even proposed text to replace the offending sections?
People need to realise that things like this don't happen overnight, law-making is a process that provides any citizen with the right and the opportunity to make their views felt and known. The masses that have been mobilised by the media houses should have been in Mombasa when govt, the house committee and stakeholders were meeting to among other things look at sections of the Kenya communications amendment act - not now, when their elected representatives have yielded to the due process and submitted the bill to the President.
my two-pence,
Brian
On 12/13/08, Grace Bomu <nmutungu@gmail.com> wrote:
I had signed up for the mars group protest yesterday on the representation that it was a protest on food prices and MP'S refusal to pay taxes. I am disgusted that the media have used our voices for their causes exclusively, disregarding ours. As a Kenyan, i think there should be a review on cross-ownership of media if democracy is to thrive. Also, considering the role of the media in fueling ethnic/ regional backlash since 2003, isn't there need for a check on them? There may be misgivings on the arbitraly powers conferred to the Minister in charge of security but media has to be checked. The media should give suggestions on alternative ways to check them instead of using all their airtime and acres of newspapers to win public sympathy. Finally, they should stop branding it ' media bill' as the bill is not a conspiracy against media but a bill to amend the communications act.
-- Sent from Gmail for mobile | mobile.google.com
Grace L.N. Mutung'u +254721898732 +254736091242 Kenya _______________________________________________ ke-internetusers mailing list ke-internetusers@bdix.net http://www.bdix.net/mailman/listinfo/ke-internetusers
-- Brian Munyao Longwe e-mail: blongwe@gmail.com cell: + 254 722 518 744 blog : http://zinjlog.blogspot.com meta-blog: http://mashilingi.blogspot.com _______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet
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-- Crystal "Naliaka" Watley Voices of Africa crystal@voicesofafrica.org http://www.voicesofafrica.org/
"You must be the change you wish to see" - Gandhi
-- Sent from my mobile device --- http://www.bungesms.com TWITTER - http://www.twitter.com/bungesms KABISSA.org - http://www.kabissa.org/about/news/member-spotlight-made-kenya-network KAMPALA Workshop presentation - http://m4d.kcl.co.ug/sites/default/files/presentations/BungeSMS_MadeinKenyaN...
Pole sana Crystal - the House Committee meeting with Media was advertised for 3 days in the local dailies.... Brian On Mon, Dec 15, 2008 at 6:35 PM, Crystal Watley <crystal@voicesofafrica.org>wrote:
Brian,
The meeting was not made public knowledge. If it had been then possibly more would have attended. Myself included.
The Communications Bill contains many well thought out policies that will benefit Kenya in its quest to become an leader in information and communications technology in the region. I read the bill when it came out in its first draft form and twice more during the consultation and amendment period. The bill is still not ready to be passed into law. As it is a serious piece of legislature it needs more discussion especially in open public forums. Once the general public and the media take an issue with a piece of legislation it should be tabled and discussed until necessary revisions are made. I would like to reiterate this bill is not ready to be passed into law. If it is I would encourage the media institutions to challenge its legality in court. It has already been rejected in the court of public opinion.
If what Dr. Ndemo and others say about the ability of the president to amend the act, although Kibaki is in a catch 22, he should see that the media stays free. What Kenyans should be afraid of is giving the government the power to decide on what dictates a "state of emergency". This has been used in other countries to suppress the masses and give all control to a few powerful individuals. The control of the many by the few is something we already see in Kenya. Information and communications technologies are to improve INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATIONS. The proliferation of Kenyan content cannot be stilfed by the law or many will shy away from their use due to fear.
Crystal
On Sat, Dec 13, 2008 at 6:36 PM, Brian Longwe <blongwe@gmail.com> wrote:
I too, feel that this is overreaction and misrepresentation by the media. How many of the very vocal media personalities who appeared protesting have even read the proposed legislation? If they did, they would see that the powers granted are only applicable during a state of emergency. Other laws set out the process and conditions by which a state of emergency can be called.
Our experiences with the post-election crisis this year exposed how partisan and instrumental media can be to fuel discontent and in many cases, media related information was used to take lives.
Have the more responsible media houses forgotten so quickly the regret and guilt they expressed, when they started crying out for peace - after they realised how seriously wrong their transmissions were taken by the public?
It is true that when Govt invited stakeholders to make representations regarding the bill, the media houses that bothered to send personnel sent only very junior officials - there's no knowing what kind of feedback/representations these underlings took back to their bosses.
How many media houses sent representations to the house committee that was responsible for the bill when they were invited to do so? To what extent did they engage with informed contributions, proposed modifications or even proposed text to replace the offending sections?
People need to realise that things like this don't happen overnight, law-making is a process that provides any citizen with the right and the opportunity to make their views felt and known. The masses that have been mobilised by the media houses should have been in Mombasa when govt, the house committee and stakeholders were meeting to among other things look at sections of the Kenya communications amendment act - not now, when their elected representatives have yielded to the due process and submitted the bill to the President.
my two-pence,
Brian
On 12/13/08, Grace Bomu <nmutungu@gmail.com> wrote:
I had signed up for the mars group protest yesterday on the representation that it was a protest on food prices and MP'S refusal to pay taxes. I am disgusted that the media have used our voices for their causes exclusively, disregarding ours. As a Kenyan, i think there should be a review on cross-ownership of media if democracy is to thrive. Also, considering the role of the media in fueling ethnic/ regional backlash since 2003, isn't there need for a check on them? There may be misgivings on the arbitraly powers conferred to the Minister in charge of security but media has to be checked. The media should give suggestions on alternative ways to check them instead of using all their airtime and acres of newspapers to win public sympathy. Finally, they should stop branding it ' media bill' as the bill is not a conspiracy against media but a bill to amend the communications act.
-- Sent from Gmail for mobile | mobile.google.com
Grace L.N. Mutung'u +254721898732 +254736091242 Kenya _______________________________________________ ke-internetusers mailing list ke-internetusers@bdix.net http://www.bdix.net/mailman/listinfo/ke-internetusers
-- Brian Munyao Longwe e-mail: blongwe@gmail.com cell: + 254 722 518 744 blog : http://zinjlog.blogspot.com meta-blog: http://mashilingi.blogspot.com _______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet
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-- Crystal "Naliaka" Watley Voices of Africa crystal@voicesofafrica.org http://www.voicesofafrica.org/
"You must be the change you wish to see" - Gandhi
-- Brian Munyao Longwe e-mail: blongwe@gmail.com cell: + 254 722 518 744 blog : http://zinjlog.blogspot.com meta-blog: http://mashilingi.blogspot.com
The meeting advertised was for "media" only. Is there any way to include more of the population into such discussions in the future? I would love to feel free to attend. Asante. Crystal On Mon, Dec 15, 2008 at 8:42 PM, Brian Longwe <blongwe@gmail.com> wrote:
Pole sana Crystal - the House Committee meeting with Media was advertised for 3 days in the local dailies....
Brian
On Mon, Dec 15, 2008 at 6:35 PM, Crystal Watley < crystal@voicesofafrica.org> wrote:
Brian,
The meeting was not made public knowledge. If it had been then possibly more would have attended. Myself included.
The Communications Bill contains many well thought out policies that will benefit Kenya in its quest to become an leader in information and communications technology in the region. I read the bill when it came out in its first draft form and twice more during the consultation and amendment period. The bill is still not ready to be passed into law. As it is a serious piece of legislature it needs more discussion especially in open public forums. Once the general public and the media take an issue with a piece of legislation it should be tabled and discussed until necessary revisions are made. I would like to reiterate this bill is not ready to be passed into law. If it is I would encourage the media institutions to challenge its legality in court. It has already been rejected in the court of public opinion.
If what Dr. Ndemo and others say about the ability of the president to amend the act, although Kibaki is in a catch 22, he should see that the media stays free. What Kenyans should be afraid of is giving the government the power to decide on what dictates a "state of emergency". This has been used in other countries to suppress the masses and give all control to a few powerful individuals. The control of the many by the few is something we already see in Kenya. Information and communications technologies are to improve INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATIONS. The proliferation of Kenyan content cannot be stilfed by the law or many will shy away from their use due to fear.
Crystal
On Sat, Dec 13, 2008 at 6:36 PM, Brian Longwe <blongwe@gmail.com> wrote:
I too, feel that this is overreaction and misrepresentation by the media. How many of the very vocal media personalities who appeared protesting have even read the proposed legislation? If they did, they would see that the powers granted are only applicable during a state of emergency. Other laws set out the process and conditions by which a state of emergency can be called.
Our experiences with the post-election crisis this year exposed how partisan and instrumental media can be to fuel discontent and in many cases, media related information was used to take lives.
Have the more responsible media houses forgotten so quickly the regret and guilt they expressed, when they started crying out for peace - after they realised how seriously wrong their transmissions were taken by the public?
It is true that when Govt invited stakeholders to make representations regarding the bill, the media houses that bothered to send personnel sent only very junior officials - there's no knowing what kind of feedback/representations these underlings took back to their bosses.
How many media houses sent representations to the house committee that was responsible for the bill when they were invited to do so? To what extent did they engage with informed contributions, proposed modifications or even proposed text to replace the offending sections?
People need to realise that things like this don't happen overnight, law-making is a process that provides any citizen with the right and the opportunity to make their views felt and known. The masses that have been mobilised by the media houses should have been in Mombasa when govt, the house committee and stakeholders were meeting to among other things look at sections of the Kenya communications amendment act - not now, when their elected representatives have yielded to the due process and submitted the bill to the President.
my two-pence,
Brian
On 12/13/08, Grace Bomu <nmutungu@gmail.com> wrote:
I had signed up for the mars group protest yesterday on the representation that it was a protest on food prices and MP'S refusal to pay taxes. I am disgusted that the media have used our voices for their causes exclusively, disregarding ours. As a Kenyan, i think there should be a review on cross-ownership of media if democracy is to thrive. Also, considering the role of the media in fueling ethnic/ regional backlash since 2003, isn't there need for a check on them? There may be misgivings on the arbitraly powers conferred to the Minister in charge of security but media has to be checked. The media should give suggestions on alternative ways to check them instead of using all their airtime and acres of newspapers to win public sympathy. Finally, they should stop branding it ' media bill' as the bill is not a conspiracy against media but a bill to amend the communications act.
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Grace L.N. Mutung'u +254721898732 +254736091242 Kenya _______________________________________________ ke-internetusers mailing list ke-internetusers@bdix.net http://www.bdix.net/mailman/listinfo/ke-internetusers
-- Brian Munyao Longwe e-mail: blongwe@gmail.com cell: + 254 722 518 744 blog : http://zinjlog.blogspot.com meta-blog: http://mashilingi.blogspot.com _______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet
This message was sent to: crystal@voicesofafrica.org Unsubscribe or change your options at http://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/crystal%40voicesofafric...
-- Crystal "Naliaka" Watley Voices of Africa crystal@voicesofafrica.org http://www.voicesofafrica.org/
"You must be the change you wish to see" - Gandhi
-- Brian Munyao Longwe e-mail: blongwe@gmail.com cell: + 254 722 518 744 blog : http://zinjlog.blogspot.com meta-blog: http://mashilingi.blogspot.com
-- Crystal "Naliaka" Watley Voices of Africa crystal@voicesofafrica.org http://www.voicesofafrica.org/ "You must be the change you wish to see" - Gandhi
participants (5)
-
alice -
Brian Longwe -
Crystal Watley -
Eric M.K Osiakwan -
Wainaina Mungai