Dear President Kibaki,
On March 2, 2006 armed police raided the headquarters and printing plant of the East African Standard Group. In addition to destroying equipment including the printing presses and burning newspapers, they shut down the Kenyan Television Network television station.
This latest attack follows the jailing of three journalists from the East African Standard newspaper, attacks on the Citizen Weekly, and ongoing harassment of journalists by government-sponsored forces.
I urge you to:
- Condemn these attacks in the strongest terms possible.
- Dismiss any member of your government who played a role in the attacks.
- Live up to your promise to support freedom of the press.
Campaign started by Keguro, wording copied from Mental.
9 comments:
Glad to see you have your 'placard' up, kijana.
Oh no, kijana - that's not what I meant at all;) I was liked the words you used on Mental's blog i.e. this is our of demonstrating seeing that we are not on the streets of Nairobi.
Let me begin by quoting the official police statement
"Evidence pointed to an intention of inciting ethnic hate and animosity leading to a breach of the peace," the statement added. "The police have evidence of monetary inducement being used to perpetuate this activity which involves a series of fabricated articles aimed at achieving instability."
It is always easier to react emotionally to situations instead of critically analyzing situations before making statements, demands or even parading yourself in the streets demonstrating against things you do not understand.
Let it be clear that I have never been a supporter of the kibaki government from the beginning (when you all refused to vote for the project)but as a policy analyst in public administration let me say that the state has every right to use what ever means at its disposal to safeguard the country. Having said this it is upon both sides to act responsibly. The fact that the government reacted so sternly makes me wonder and think that they could be telling the truth. Why does the standard print false stories how do we know that the government isn’t right that it is being used to create conditions that can lead to instability.
What we should be demanding is that the proper channels we used to bring to justice anyone found to be breaking the law. The government has the right to act pre-emptively but after the fact the people have the right to see this evidence that the security organs have. Accountability must be ensured. If the evidence can not be produced for security reason, the parliamentary standing committee on security which is bi partisan should be fully briefed.
Some have claimed that this is an attack on the intellectual freedoms of Kenyans but intellectual freedom as you put it comes with responsibility. We as intellectuals can not always run behind the cover of intellectual freedom if we cannot practice that freedom responsibly like Americans always say the cost of freedom is not free. We all know about the media in Kenya, we have even at times been critical of their irresponsible journalism. So let reason reign and maturity have its way.
Tuko pamoja on this!
Hi all, I attended the protests a few hours ago. Here are my raw reflections (largely un-edited):
http://kenyananalyst.blogspot.com/2006/03/uhuru-park-memo.html
Hey Adrian -
Just read through your blog (after reading you on mine); kazi nzuri!
I like the content and the style; you make for a great read.
As for Metito, I played a very minimal role (mostly asking guys I knew from that area to vote him in after Parpai passed on).
A tight buddy of mine from Namanga, though, did the donkey work.
Blessings in all you are about!
michuki hakustahili kushambulia Standard. Hata hivyo alidhihirisha kwamba serikali i' chonjo. Si wajua akina Raila wakipewa nafasi watapindua serikali....
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