By Mujidu Victor
The Director of Communication in the Deputy President William Ruto’s campaign docket, Hussein Mohammed has officially announced that Kenya Kwanza will not comply with the presidential debate program until the Royal Media and Services (RMS) reforms their coverage.
Deputy President led the Kenya Kwanza Team during a political rally ain Makueni County.[Image Twitter/@William Ruto]
In a statement issued yesterday by Hussein, Royal Media Services converted its media platforms into an Azimio La Umoja synergy.
According to Hussein Mohammed’s press release, media platforms that deliberately sail the Azimio La Umoja campaign and polarize the Deputy President’s push are Citizen Tv, Inooro TV, Inooro Radio, and The Daily Nation.
He added that the stations have undermined the statutory terms of the license and violated constitutional freedom through unequal coverage and negative structuring of the Kenya Kwanza Presidential Candidate and his allies.
“We wish to highlight the notorious instance of runaway abuse of public bandwidth by Royal Media Services a licensee which has converted its platforms, especially Citizen Tv, Inooro Tv and Inooro Radio to official campaign mouthpieces of the Azimio La Umoja. The Daily Nation complements these abuses by becoming their print counterpart. Under the current partisan media environment, we have advised our candidate against participating in the presidential debate,” the statement read in part.
The former Citizen Tv journalist noted with great concern that although the stations obligate nefarious intentions and practice inconsequential actions, Kenya Kwanza demand fair play as a matter of right as well as professional decency.
His statement comes weeks after Kapseret member of parliament Oscar Kipchumba Sudi slams Citizen Tv for allegedly backing Raila Odinga’s campaign agendas. In the snider statement of Sudi, he quoted that the spotted outlets should stop covering William Ruto’s stories.
The mixed signals between the offended political leaders and the few media stations alarmed the Media Council of Kenya which defended the editorial independence of journalists and media houses.
The Media Council explained that all media practitioners were regulated by the codes of ethics and conduct. The MCK CEO David Omwonyo cautioned politicians not to invade the media houses, stating that such scandalous brims amount to incitement.
“We advise politicians and the public that Kenya’s media and journalists are guided by a professional code of conduct, with sufficient mechanisms for self-regulation, both as an industry or at a personal level,” MCK stated.
However, the Kenya Kwanza attitude comes three months after the media owners, editors guild, and MCK announced that the Presidential Debate will take place beginning July 2022.
