Mwai Kibaki’s rise to power in 2002 marked the end of an ugly era of brutal media repression by the state lasting over two decades.
His landslide election was the culmination of a long and painful national resistance to the dictatorship of President Daniel arap Moi. The media played key roles—and paid high costs—to midwife the Second Liberation.
This is the context in which Kibaki’s media legacy should be assessed in the 10 years after Moi.
UK-based Kenyan journalism scholar George Ogola writes that, “no president has had a more terrifying presence in Kenyan newsrooms than Daniel arap Moi”.
His omnipresence was felt across newsrooms, all of which had his framed picture strategically placed to ensure journalists were aware he was watching them, Ogola states.
“Although media freedom was provided for in Section 79a of the Constitution, it remained subject to the provisions of the penal code. This gave the government power to clamp down on the media in the interest of public morality, public order and national security. Between 1988 and 1990 nearly 20 publications were banned. Their editors were jailed, fined or forced into exile,” Ogola says.
On December 30, 2002, Kibaki roared from Uhuru Park to thousands of jubilant citizens witnessing his inauguration and millions of others following the historic transition to democracy on live radio and TV. ‘Yote yawezekana, bila Moi!’ they chanted.
“Fellow Kenyans, I am inheriting a country which has been badly ravaged by years of misrule and ineptitude. There has been a wide disconnect between the people and the government, between people’s aspirations and the government’s attitude toward them,” Kibaki said.
“I believe that government exists to serve the people and not the people to serve the government. I believe that government exists to chart a common path and create an enabling environment for its citizens and residents to fulfill themselves in life.”
Kibaki for the first time established the office of the government spokesman, held by the current Machakos Governor Alfred Mutua from 2004. Mutua conducted weekly media briefings on government affairs and to respond to citizens’ concerns.
Media scholars Mathews Shirima and Michael Ndonye write that, “Although this office may have had challenges—as it faced independent, assertive and watchful media in Kenya—it served its purposes, one of which was to offer strategic communication of government policies. In essence, it sanitised government communication, thus according media independence that it had never experienced before”.
Another significant milestone under Kibaki was the establishment of the Media Council of Kenya in 2007 with broad sectoral representation to implement industry self-regulation.
But the ability of the MCK to enforce professional standards was profoundly tested during the 2007-08 post-election violence that was partly fanned by partisan media, particularly vernacular radio stations, as documented in the Waki Report. On December 31, 2007, the government banned live broadcasts as deadly chaos sparked by the disputed reelection of Kibaki erupted across the country.
The Freedom of Information Act 2007 was enacted during Kibaki’s rule and killed the Official Secrets Act that restricted access to public information on security grounds.
The greatest moment for media freedom under the Kibaki administration was, of course, promulgation of the Constitution of Kenya 2010 with a robust Bill of Rights that expressly guarantees the freedoms of expression, media and access to information (articles 33, 34 and 35).
The media grew in vibrancy and independence under Kibaki. The Narc government’s widely praised efforts to revive the economy and fight poverty, its expansion of infrastructure and public services, but also the slow pace of the promised reforms and the return of grand corruption, received unfettered media coverage.
But media freedom also suffered notable setbacks under Kibaki. In 2005, First Lady Lucy Kibaki stormed Nation Centre at night to protest over a story about the family. The following year government security personnel raided the Standard Group, beat up journalists, dismantled equipment and burnt newspaper copies over a huge corruption scandal.
During the bitterly disputed election in 2007, the Kibaki administration imposed a media blackout. His swearing-in for a second term was done at night at State House, with only KBC allowed at the secret event.
President Kibaki signed the Kenya Communications (Amendment) Bill 2008 into law in December 2008, ignoring local and international protests about provisions that imposed heavy penalties for media offences.
But no journalists were killed by state operatives, jailed, heavily fined or forced to flee to exile for doing their work during the Kibaki years.
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