Court Directs Gov't to Restore Transmission of Three TV Stations that Were Shut Down on Tuesday

The High Court has ordered the Communications Authority of Kenya to restore the transmission of three television station shutdown on Tuesday, pending the hearing and determination of the case filed by Activist Okiya Omtatah on Thursday.

On Tuesday, Communications Authority disconnected broadcasting signals of three television stations namely, NTV, KTN and Citizen for contravening the government order against live coverage of the opposition leader Raila Odinga's swearing in as people's president.

Issuing the orders, Justice Chacha Mwita further asked the government to stop interfering with the operations of the three media houses.

In his petition, the Omtatah argues that the switch off is illegal and that there are no provision in law to justify the disconnection. The activist named the three media houses as interested parties in the suit, while the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA), Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang'i, his ICT counterpart Joe Mucheru and Attorney General Githu Muigai have been listed as respondents.

The activist is further seeking an order to have the three stations compensated for the loss incurred during the shutdown. He also argues that the switch off violates the right to freedom of expression by limiting freedom of the press.

Speaking during a press briefing on the state of security in the country in Nairobi on Wednesday, Interior Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang'i said the three media houses will remain closed until investigations on the Nasa swearing in is complete. "Media houses will remain closed until we complete investigations."

The CS further said that the government has information that some media houses had been involved in a scheme where Nasa had planned to massacre supporters and then blame it on police.

"We were aware of some elements in the media who participated in the furtherance of this illegal act," he said. "Their complicity would have led to thousands of deaths of innocent Kenyans due to the buildup of the incitement that was witnessed in early hours," said Matiangi.

He explained that media owners were given a full security brief ahead of the opposition "illegal activities", but chose to ignore it. "Unfortunately, some media houses chose to disregard this advice, their own code of ethics, self regulation and the moral responsibility of every Kenyan to safeguard the security of there fellow citizens."