Raila meets media owners
 
By OLIVER MATHENGE

In Summary

Raila receives petition urging President Kibaki not to sign bill.PM says Government will not allow a situation where media freedom is suppressed.

Prime Minister Raila Odinga has said the Kenya Communications (Amendment) Bill, 2008 was passed without proper consultations.

He, however, said the Government will not allow a situation where media freedom is suppressed.

“As a country, we have come a long way in fighting for media freedom and it is not freedom that we want to compromise.”

Mr Odinga was speaking at his office after receiving a petition, on behalf of President Kibaki, from media practitioners urging the president not to assent to the Bill.

The PM received the petition after meeting representatives of the Media Owners Association and the Editors Guild.The meeting came just five days after MPs passed the Bill.
Mr Odinga promised to present the petition to the President at the earliest opportune time adding that the government was committed to safeguarding media freedom in the country.

“We can consult on all this issues and I can tell you that the President is also very concerned about press freedom,” said Mr Odinga.

Speaking before presenting the petition, Media Owners Association chairperson Mr Linus Gitahi said that media practitioners in the country were not against regulation since there was already a Media Council in place.

He added that the Media Council is all-inclusive with representatives from the government and would be left to deal with issues raised against the media.

However, Mr Gitahi said that they were optimistic that the Prime Minister and the President would have fruitful discussions that would see the return of the Bill to Parliament.

Among the issues being raised by the media players is the clause that gives the State power to regulate content and to disrupt broadcasts by seizing equipment.

There have been protests following the passing of the Bill. Several protesters were arrested during the Jamhuri Day celebrations on Friday.

The PM said that he had noted the media concerns over the proposed law but also urged journalist to exercise responsibility in their work. He noted that journalists who were arrested during Jamhuri day should not have held their planned protest on such a day.

“We do not want to manhandle our people but a national day is not a time to come up with such kind of drama,” said Mr Odinga.

Couretesy of:http://www.nation.co.ke