KENYAN MEDIA: FIRMLY IN GOVERNMENT'S CROSSHAIRS

C O N F I D E N T I A L NAIROBI 002168 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/07/2026 TAGS: PHUM KDEM PREL KE SUBJECT: KENYAN MEDIA: FIRMLY IN GOVERNMENT'S CROSSHAIRS REF: NAIROBI 1023 Classified By: Political Counselor Michael J. Fitzpatrick. Reasons 1.4 (b,d) ¶1. (C) SUMMARY: Even as the government hoped the public's outrage over the March Standard Media Group raids would quietly dissipate, continuing official actions only underscore the government's unrelenting ire towards Kenyan media. While paying lip service to its commitment to free media on the one hand, government officials continue to chastise the irresponsibility of Kenyan press on the other. Following the March raids, although there was little hope of an apology or appropriate explanation, observers were optimistic that the government would learn its lesson. Sadly, that hope too has faded as the government, paranoia-driven and uncertain of its future after the 2007 general election, repeatedly lashes out at Kenyan media. END SUMMARY. WHEN IN DOUBT, DENY -------------- ¶2. (C) The February 28 arrest of three Standard journalists and the March 2 government raids on the Standard Media Group signaled to Kenyans that press freedom in Kenya has not yet fully, or adequately, evolved (reftel). While the government had hoped to get away with never justifying the raids and that public outrage would quietly fade, their repeated fumbles have kept the issue of media freedom in Kenya front and center. Despite Internal Security Minister John Michuki's March 3 insistence that the Standard was in possession of "matters detrimental to the security of Kenya" no such evidence has been produced and no charges have been pressed. An unrepentant Michuki has held firm, declaring baldly on May 15 that, "I did what I did because of national security...If I see that the security of this nation is threatened, and if I find any reason to repeat what I did there, I would do the same." ¶3. (C) Since the raids, government officials, in particular Spokesman Alfred Mutua and Information and Communications Minister Mutahi Kagwe, have repeatedly lashed out at what they perceive as slights against the government at the hands of the media, at times singling out individual articles and newspapers (typically the Standard): -- Spokesman Mutua, in a March 23 statement, accused Kenyan media of "rubbishing the President's call for exercising of responsibility by media." Mutua decried the "unfortunate arrogance" among journalists who suggest the government is only trying to avoid unflattering reporting, and called for all sides to admit to making mistakes; -- April 1, Mutua criticized as "inaccurate and misleading" reports that President Kibaki had been slow to respond to corruption allegations; -- The spokesman also struck out against the Standard on April 11, fingering one journalist in particular, calling a report on the cause of the April 10 Marsabit plane crash "baseless speculation and blatant lies"; -- In an April 27 statement, Mutua aired a laundry list of grievances against the Standard, accusing another Standard piece on the Marsabit crash of "lying and misleading the public." The spokesman also took the Standard to task for a reported meeting at Statehouse: "it appears the newspaper takes certain politically biased positions and then starts manufacturing lies to give credence to their positions"; -- Marking World Press Freedom Day (May 3),Mutua again targeted the Standard, calling "a lie" the paper's assertion that accessing government information was near impossible (NOTE: PolCouns attempted to verify Mutua's claim that certain information was available on a government website. It was not. END NOTE.); and, -- May 4, the High Court ruled against Standard Media Group in a 2003 defamation case awarding Martha Karua, the current Justice Minister, USD60,000. (NOTE: Human rights NGO International Commission of Jurists (ICJ) notes that this was only one of hundreds of defamation cases pending under criminal libel laws, adding that even a few awards would bankrupt a media house. END NOTE.) THEY JUST WON'T LEARN -------------- ¶4. (SBU) The government has also enlisted Parliament in its attacks on the media. Minister Kagwe on April 26 presented Parliament (and coincidentally the Ambassador, DCM and other diplomats in the gallery) excerpts of a radio broadcast he described as disparaging Parliament and parliamentarians, allegedly including five members who died in the Marsabit plane crash. In a fiery reaction, Speaker Francis Ole Kaparo banned Royal Media (the owner of the accused Citizen radio station) from covering parliamentary proceedings, threatening that the media may think it is "powerful, but parliament is more powerful!" Amid the din of MPs' jeers, the journalists left Parliament as ordered. They have not been allowed back since. BOTH SIDES OF THEIR MOUTHS -------------- ¶5. (C) Mutua and Kagwe's repeated declarations of the government's commitment to respecting media freedom are in striking contradiction to their public tirades against journalists. The ministers offer examples of irresponsible journalism as evidence of the need for a (government-sponsored) Media Bill and pledge support for freedom of information legislation (drafted and due to be introduced in parliament this session). However, the government has actually constrained media freedom: several of the journalists sought out and threatened following the Standard Raids have fled the country. The Japanese Ambassador privately raised the issue of press freedom with President Kibaki in early May. A suddenly irate Kibaki declared the Standard "irresponsible" and baldly stated he would not hesitate to shut down the Standard -- even permanently -- if he felt the need. ¶6. (C) On the other hand, the need for greater responsibility in Kenyan journalism is widely acknowledged. The Kenya Human Rights Commission observed to poloff that corruption among journalists is rampant, and the government has rightly voiced its concerns about cross-ownership of media houses. Misquotation is a common practice, as journalists are in the habit of summarizing interviews as they see fit, creating fictitious quotes and mischaracterizing statements. On May 3, the Standard suspended three editors reportedly in connection with an April piece alleging a meeting (which the government vehemently denied) between President Kibaki and two ministers who had recently resigned following corruption allegations. The editors' suspensions, even if not related to the allegedly fictitious article, will be perceived as an admission that sloppy reporting does make it into print. It can also be held up as an example of a media house taking action against its own staff for poor work. (NOTE: Former President Moi and his family are the main owners of the Standard Media Group. Over lunch May 16 at the Ambassador's residence, Moi ridiculed the notion that national security had anything to do with the government raid on the Standard. END NOTE.) COMMENT: THE WORLD THROUGH PARANOIA-COLORED GLASSES -------------- -------------- ¶7. (C) In the prevailing atmosphere of intense skepticism and suspicion of the media on the part of the government, calls from civil society and donors for greater respect for media freedom continue, albeit to little effect. It will take a shift in thinking among high-level government officials to realize the media's role is not simply to shower them with accolades. That said, a greater degree of responsibility in accurate reporting is certainly needed. The government's palpable unease with free media, much less one tied to the opposition, is another symptom of a paranoid government that feels itself on shaky ground fearing its survival in the 2007 general election is at risk without at least a segment of the media in its pocket. In a World Press Freedom day speech before an Embassy-organized conference of journalists, the Ambassador emphasized that recent government actions and statements against Kenyan media signaled a disturbingly retrogressive attitude towards press freedom, a point the Mission will continue to reinforce. END COMMENT. BELLAMY