Royal Media Services licences are authentic, says SK Macharia

Royal Media Services Chair SK Macharia.

Nairobi, Kenya: Royal Media Services (RMS) have come out strongly to defend their acquisition of radio and television frequency licences in the 1990s from claims that they were acquired fraudulently.

Through chairman SK Macharia, RMS, which runs Citizen TV and Radio Citizen, took issue with a section of the ruling by the Supreme Court delivered on Monday, which stated corruption and State patronage attended the issuing of frequencies in those years.

“The ruling by Justice Mohamed Ibrahim stated the courts may take judicial notice that the licensing of Citizen Radio and Television in 1997 appeared to be conditional upon political co-operation between its leadership and the then ruling party,” observed Mr Macharia.

Macharia added the judge had also noted when political co-operation between the owners of Citizen Radio and TV was not forthcoming or assured, the operator was switched off air and the equipment vandalised.

In view of the above, Macharia noted viewers and listeners of Citizen Radio and TV understood that part of the judgement meant RMS obtained its licence corruptly and that it carries on its business in a corrupt manner.

He said RMS was greatly aggrieved by the fact that it was wrongly depicted by Ibrahim as a corrupt enterprise, whereas it champions constitutionalism, rule of law, democracy, transparency and integrity in the management of public affairs.

“RMS is not aware of the phenomena of State patronage and corruption in the issuance of broadcasting licences in the 1990s. If they existed, it did not seek to obtain its broadcasting licences through them,” he said.

 Legal suits

The chairman told a media briefing in Nairobi yesterday RMS was awarded frequencies following protracted court battles that started in 1993 as the regime at the time was opposed to licensing private media houses.

“Independent media was then considered to be an extension of the Opposition, which had successfully pressurised for the restoration of political pluralism,” said Macharia.

He gave a chronology of events including legal suits RMS had engaged the Government in, which culminated in getting a licence.

He said the truth of how RMS got its licence can be found in Civil Application Number 1030 of 1993, where a judgement was issued in 1995.

He noted the judgement had ordered the Government to issue RMS with frequencies and when it failed, RMS filed a suit seeking to have the then Minister for Information Johnstone Makau and Attorney General Amos Wako committed to civil jail for disobeying a court decree.

"The first time RMS applied to the Information and Broadcasting ministry for a television and broadcast licence was on May 3, 1993, but neither response nor replies were forthcoming, which compelled RMS to move to court," he said.

Macharia said the fight for a free media had not been easy as it had been opposed by Government ministers and party officials, who claimed licensing of private media stations would destabilise the country.