IIEC praises media for job well done

By Beauttah Omanga

The Interim Independent Electoral Commission (IIEC) has given a thumps-up to the media over the manner it handled the referendum campaigns.

Mr Ken Nyaundi, a member of the commission, hailed the media saying the commission was pleased with unbiased coverage accorded to all players that reduced chances of either side disputing the final results.

"The IIEC was pleased with the maturity exhibited by the media during the campaigns and also at the Bomas of Kenya, the venue of vote tallying. If the media decided to listen to all complainants, tension would have gripped the country during the two days attention was focused on us as we released results from Bomas," said Nyaundi.

He, however, said some media houses failed to control themselves with some electronic journalists "being carried away during morning shows to a point they even joined their callers in criticising some leaders".

"We expect the media to continue being responsible and not mere conveyors of what is happening," he said, while officiating at the release of a survey of the media performance during the referendum campaigns.

The Editors Guild Chairman Macharia Gaitho summed up the media’s newfound responsibility in the coverage of campaign saying, "We learnt in 2007-2008 and resolved never to repeat the past mistakes."

Peace Pen Communications director Mildred Ngesa said the NGO, which conducted the survey, monitored leading media houses for 14 days to establish how they covered the referendum campaigns.