William Ruto: Government will not interfere with freedom of the press

DP William Ruto with ICT Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang'i, Principal Secretary Joseph Tiampati during the journalists’ convention to mark World Press Freedom Day at the Intercontinental Hotel, Nairobi. (Photo:PSCU)

Deputy President William Ruto said that the government has no intention of interfering with the freedom of the press in the country and was focused on providing an environment where a free and professional media can thrive.

He said it was a misconception in sections of the media and the general public that the jubilee administration was hostile to the media adding the government was committed to a free, independent and professional media.

Speaking when he officiated at the World Press Freedom Day Journalists’ Convention at the Intercontinental hotel, Mr. Ruto said there was need to correct that misconception.

Said the DP: “We have a duty and responsibility to work with the media all we are asking for balanced, professional reporting from the media. This   is not too much to ask for.”

He disabused the notion that the jubilee administration is not media friendly. He instead said there was a feeling that some journalists had adopted a hostile attitude towards government because the journalists were supporting their (government’s) competitors.

The DP said there was need for media houses to inculcate a sense of professionalism in journalists and correct the misconception in sections of the public that some journalists were deliberately hostile to government. “Some journalists should shade this watu wetu mentality,” he added.

He acknowledged that the government was facing some challenges with security due to terrorism, radicalization and extremism but hastened to add that on the other side the country was undergoing major transformation that needs reporting.

He said: “the cost of the energy has gone down in the last one and half years by 25%, the turnaround at the Mombasa port is also telling. It used to take 18 days to travel to Malaba now it is 6 days. Serious, serious transformation is taking place in Kenya. All we are asking for is balanced, objective reporting.”

On the security laws that were passed recently, Mr. Ruto noted that 95% were constitutional while the rest which were unconstitutional were declared so by the courts and the government had no regrets about it.

Mr. Ruto pointed out that these laws had helped the government manage the security situation in the country and cited the recent massacre at Garissa University College where 142 students lost their lives as a case in point.

Said the DP: “We did not see gory pictures of bodies splashed on newspaper headlines as was the case before. It is therefore insincere to say the security laws were meant to serve narrow and parochial interests.”

 “The security of the country cannot be narrow and parochial, if we stretch it that far we are moving from the ridiculous to the absurd,” he added.

The Cabinet Secretary for Information Communication and Technology Dr. Fred Matiang’i echoed similar sentiments saying there was room for constant conversation between the media and government.

He noted that the first phase of the digital migration had been completed successfully adding the Ministry remained committed to the improvement of the media industry in the country would continue to engage media on that.

The chairman of the Kenya editors Guild Linus Kaikai had expressed concern that the ministry and the Communication Authority of Kenya (CAK) had mishandled digital migration in the country.

Dr. Jaco Du Toit, the adviser for communication and information sector at the UNESCO regional office for Eastern Africa also spoke at the convention.