Gatundu South MP Moses Kuria loses bid to bar media from incitement case

Gatundu south MP Moses Kuria at Milimani court during the ruling of an application in which he sought to bar the media from covering his incitement case. (Photo: George Njunge/Standard)

Nairobi, Kenya: Gatundu South MP Moses Kuria has lost his bid to bar the media from covering his incitement to violence case.

While dismissing the application, Milimani Principal Magistrate Theresa Nyangena said the reasons advanced by Kuria’s team to kick out the media in the case were not convincing.

“In my view therefore, nobody else including the media can charge an individual and convict him or her whether unfairly or otherwise. The role of the media is clearly anchored in the constitution and for avoidance of doubt , the court makes a finding that the accused is innocent until fairly tried and found guilty by a qualified, competent and independent court established by the constitution,” Ms Nyangena said.

Ms Nyangena said the oral application by Kuria’s defence lawyers did not adduce any evidence to prove the media had infringed on his rights or it had breached the constitution. She also said Kuria did not swear an affidavit demonstrating how he had been negatively affected by media coverage.

“The law of evidence is clear on what kind of evidence is admissible and therefore the media has no authority to charge, adjudicate and convict an accused person,” Ms Nyangena said in her ruling.

The magistrate said the court had simply been asked to take judicial notice of what had been transpiring in the media. She noted that the court was not affirming that the media is not faultless and was subject to controls and regulations in accordance with laid down procedures.

“Barring the media from covering Court proceedings, where there is no proof of vulnerability of witness or threat to national security, public order, morality or that the security of the accused is compromised could be in breach of the constitution since that could not depict that we are in an open, free and democratic society,” she said.

The Magistrate said that the MP ought to have filed a formal application demonstrating the mistreatment visited on him and by whom. She added that the application ought to have been served on the person or media house that infringed on his rights.

“As it is, the application is an oral blanket application that in my view is incapable of execution and lacks a legal basis. I am also of the well-considered view that the independence and freedom of the media is well entrenched in the constitution” she said.