Senate Majority Leader Aaron Cheruiyot has emphasized that the government is not at war with Kenyan media outlets.
“We have no fight with the media. In fact what most of us are saying is that the same way the media checks us, the political class, they equally deserve to be checked” he stated.
Cheruiyot said media reports must be truthful and factual. “We do not want propaganda. Our president is well-received abroad but when he comes back, the media chooses to be petty. They focus on small issues and are always looking to find fault in government,” he explained.
The Majority leader was backed by Isiolo Governor Abdi Hassan Guyo who also asked the median to be objective in its reporting.
Speaking on Sunday at a church service in Kajiado, Cheruyiot added the media should also give prominence to the good things that happen in the country.
“It cannot be negative news from morning till evening. That is all we are asking of the media,” he added.
His remarks came in the wake of a storm over a series of derogatory remarks by Investments, Trade and Industry Cabinet Secretary Moses Kuria against the media.
The furor erupted when Kuria went on the attack against Nation Media Group (NMG), a major media house in East Africa owned by the Aga Khan.
On Saturday, Kuria took on the media yet again, defying a court order issued against him insulting journalists.
Kuria, who was at Kimorori grounds at Kenol town for a food distribution event, accused the media of siding with the Raila Odinga-led opposition Azimio la Umoja One Kenya coalition party.
The orders by High Court Judge Lawrence Mugambi on Wednesday stated: “An injunction be and is hereby issued against the Cabinet Secretary, Ministry of Investments, Trade and Industries the Hon. Moses Kuria preventing him from uttering and expressing any insulting, demeaning, belittling, condescending, disdainful, disparaging or vilifying words against any media practitioner(s) within the meaning of Article 34 of the Constitution of Kenya.”
Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna has filed a censure motion against Kuria, warning that an attack on one media house "often leads to attacks on press freedom as a whole."
