The Truth Will Not Be Televised The past year has seen Kenya regress almost two decades with regards to freedom of the press. The gains that had been so hard earned by the blood, sweat and tears of heroic Kenyans during the second liberation have been rolled back overnight. It began with the deliberate black out to the CORD narrative at the height of the 2013 electoral cycle. The media became a willing accomplice in the electoral fraud wrought upon the Kenyan electorate by the Jubilee axis. Instead of objectively presenting all sides of the story, they peppered the public with brainwashing messages of accept and move on and peace. In taking up this self-appointed role of referee, the Fourth Estate failed in its primary role to inform. More recently, The Standard headlined their Sunday paper with an incredible piece of libelous fiction regarding the Rt Hon Raila Odingas speech in Kisumu. They deliberately put forward a gross misinterpretation of what was actually said. I have since challenged the Standard and indeed any media house to play the clip of the speech with a corresponding translation but none has responded. The Standard must take responsibility for its reckless and profiteering form of journalism and issue an apology to Prime Minister for this taint on his good name. Today, the People newspaper went further to claim that the Chair of the IEBC, Mr Isaak Hassan, has threatened to ban the participation of the Rt Hon Raila Odinga in future elections unless he apologized to the body. The IEBC has since issued a statement that reads; the IEBC has not said, nor insinuated, that the CORD leader Raila Odinga risked being banned from vying for any post in Kenya in any subsequent elections if he does not recant the allegation that military rigged elections at Bomas of Kenya as was reported in todays People. These flagrant and consistent violations of free speech cannot go unchallenged. An analytical mind would ask who the owner of the People newspaper is; therein lies the answer to the declining integrity in journalism across media houses, not just the People. Kenyans must open their eyes, the truth will not be televised! Dr. Oduwo, Noah Akala.
Posted on: Sat, 25 Jan 2014 07:25:22 +0000
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