President William Ruto has trashed reports that his government is planning to switch off the media ahead of the Monday demonstrations by the Azimio coalition.
Addressing the nation on Monday, Ruto said the reports alleging such a plot are misleading.
He expressed commitment to enhancing the freedom and rights of the media saying he has no plans to pin them down.
“Kenya has come a long way. And we are hearing that the government is planning to switch off the media. We will not switch off the media in fact we support the media regardless of how unbiased they are,” he said.
"I do not think there was any deliberate attack on the media. We believe the media should be left to carry out its duties irrespective of how unfair they may be. Media has our absolute support. Any engagement that puts media in danger is not accepted."
Kenya Media Sector Working Group and the media stakeholders earlier called out Deputy President Rigathi Gachagua for attempting “to deny the free flow of information to the public."
“We have received reports of plans to shut down the broadcast media and the internet and throw the country in information darkness ahead of tomorrow’s demonstrations," President of Kenya Editors Guild, Churchill Otieno said on Sunday.
Otieno said the move is ill-advised and a grievous assault on Kenyan democracy.
"From a media perspective, taking this route will sink us all as a country,” he said.
