MCK to hold roundtable talks with government amidst increased attacks on journalists

Nairobi, 

Friday, 9 August, 2024 

McCreadie Andias 

The Media Council of Kenya is set to engage government representatives on a roundtable to discuss the state of the national surrounding media-government relations. 

The discussions will be held during a 3 day retreat at the Naivasha resort from 9th to 11th August, 2024, encompassing representatives from the media council of Kenya led by CEO David Omwoyo, representatives from the Ministry of Interior and National Administration, journalists and representatives from the Ministry of Information and communications technology. 

The talks comes amidst growing tensions between the Media and the government, as rising cases of journalist attacks perpetrated by police officers during Anti-government protests continue to grab headline. 

Police are on the spot yet again for targeting and attacking journalists who were covering the Nane Nane protests in Nairobi’s Central Business District (CBD) on Thursday.

Police were filmed attacking journalists, firing teargas canisters directly at media crews and injuring some of the journalists.

At close range, the officers resorted to kicks and blows against the media representatives.

One female journalist faced the wrath of the officers; she was hit by the infamous long wooden sticks.

A foreign journalist was hit on his right foot and sustained injuries. As if that was not enough, the police directed teargas canisters directly at CNN journalist Larry Madowo and his team.

When asked about the repeated harassment of the media, Acting Police Inspector General Gilbert Masengeli could not give a satisfactory answer, instead directing the police to collaborate with journalists covering protests.

A female journalist from media max was shot three times at the leg by police while covering Gen-z protests in Nakuru earlier last month.

The journalist suffered critical injuries which would risk to her leg being amputated.

MCK has adressed the ongoing bad blood between the Media and the government which it attributes to one that originates from the media coverage of the 2022 campaign elections.

The council has accused the government of using police to harass journalist and censor media freedom.

MCK has also called out the government for failing to deliver media shares amounting to atleast 1 billion shillings which have accumulated since last year, The delays in releasing the funds have affected and compromised the work of media practitioners, Kenya Editors Guild noted in a statement last month.

MCK has Noted that a bad Government is better than no Government at all and at the same time a bad media is better than no media at all hence both should respect each other's integrity and autonomy and work independently without interfering with each other's freedom.

"The government and the media are under no obligation to like each other. They must agree to exist and identify common principles and values on which to engage, Including duty to the nation". MCK CEO David Omwoyo noted in a statement.

The CEO noted that the roundtable talks will seek to explore ways for the government and the media to find a common ground that promotes national duty and mutual respect.

"It is time the government and editors find a common ground and prioritize the unity of the country by way of creating a framework of communicating critical national issues while respecting each other's independence and duty." Omwoyo stated.