The recent media shutdown of four leading television stations caused ripples across the globe on the standings of the country on media freedom and precisely right to information.
The switch-off that kept NTV, KTN News, Citizen TV and Innoro TV in the dark saw wild criticism from journalists, civil rights lobby groups and the general public among others sprout.
The government through the Interior ministry argued that the media houses and some unnamed characters in the media fraternity were out to further an illegal exercise-the Raila Odinga swearing in that took place at Uhuru Park on January 30. The government labelled the oath ceremony as a well-choreographed scheme to overthrow a legally constituted government.
In the end, the approach by the state was not well received by many.
Former Independent and Electoral Boundaries Commission (IEBC) Commissioner Dr Roselynn Akombe was moved by the events that catapulted Kenya’s agenda in early February.
Moments after Interior CS Fred Matiang’i announced on January 31 that TV stations were to remain shut until probe into alleged incitement were complete; Dr Akombe tweeted: “In the end, we will remember not the words of our enemies, but the silence of our friends”- Martin Luther King Jr.@ntvkenya @citizentvkenya @K24Tv @StandardKenya @TheStarKenya”
Dr Akombe is in New York, the US after she fled the country in the run-up to the October 26, 2017, repeat presidential poll over allegations of political infringement at the IEBC.
The media shutdown was halted for NTV and KTN News.
However, Citizen TV and Inooro TV remain shut. This is in disregard of a court order that required the government to restore the signal for all the affected stations until a case filed by activist Okiya Omtatah is heard and determined on February 14.