A week after the Kenyan Parliament passed a law compelling journalists to disclose their sources, pressure is mounting for President Mwai Kibaki to reject the punitive legislation.
The new Kenya Media Bill, which was passed last week by 27 votes instead of the mandatory 30-member quorum, has come under heavy criticism from both the industry and the public, which perceive it as a deliberate attempt to gag the media, which has openly criticised the government for corruption.
Donor countries, led by the United States, added their voice to the mounting opposition to the law, with ambassador Michael Ranneberger saying on Wednesday: “The provision that requires journalists to reveal their sources in court is troubling … because it can be abused.”
The law, which Kibaki must endorse within the next three months or refer back to Parliament for review, compels reporters and editors to reveal their sources in the event of a legal dispute.
Commenting on the last-minute amendment to the law before it sailed through the House last week, lawyer and MP Paul Muite criticised the state introducing stringent measures to muzzle the media, saying the move would hamper the fight against corruption.
“The provision is not only unconstitutional, it is also in violation of the witness protection legislation that provides for whistle-blowers’ protection. This provision is discriminatory in the sense that the police protect their informers, but the media are being forced to breach the confidentiality in witness protection,” said Muite, who also chairs the parliamentary committee on law and constitutional reforms.
Law Society of Kenya (LSK) chair Okong’o Omogeni said the Bill violated the principle of media freedom. “It is the view of the society that the Bill as passed runs contrary to the freedom of the press and the fundamental convention of protection of journalistic sources,” he told reporters on Tuesday.
LSK said it would challenge the constitutionality of the legislation in court if the president signed the Bill into law.
The state has not forgiven the media for initially blowing the whistle on and then sustaining the campaign to unearth two major financial scandals in which more than $300-million in taxpayers’ money was embezzled through fictitious deals.
Both scandals represent serious threats to the Kibaki government, which has been hanging on precariously for four years as Kibaki desperately tried to sweep them under the carpet.
Justice Minister Martha Karua denied that the Bill was designed to gag the media, saying the Bill would apply only to published information that was being challenged in court.