Court forces CA to restore TV signals as footballer sued

Youth during Gen Z protests in Nairobi, on June 25, 2025. [Gitau Wanyoike, Standard] Standard Group PLC's KTN is back on air after the High Court ordered the Communication Authority of Kenya (CA) to reactivate the signals. The directive came as more cases were filed challenging the CA's order on media houses to stop the live transmission of Wednesday's protests. Besides KTN, the agency had also switched off NTV signals. Before Justice John Chigiti gave the orders in a case filed by the Katiba Institute, Justice Chacha Mwita had suspended the directive by CA Director, David Mugonyi, following an application by the Law Society of Kenya. Yesterday, the Kenya Union of Journalists (KUJ) and the Media Lawyers Association of Kenya (MLA) filed a third case arguing that the decision violated the right to information and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. In their case before Justice Lawrence Mugambi, they claimed that the agency, whose board chair is Mary Wambui, had no justification for taking such a drastic move. "The decision of the first respondent to ban live transmission of demonstrations violated the right to freedom of expression, freedom of the media and access to information under Articles 33, 34 and 35 of the Constitution." The court heard that although Mugonyi cited the law, he did not disclose which part of the broadcast the media houses had violated. KUJ and MLA accused CA of overreach. They argued that the State agency had no powers or authority to dictate how any media house conducts its programming. The court heard that after CA issued the order, it raided the satellite sites of the media houses and switched off transmission. Besides CA, others sued are the Attorney General, Pan African Network Group (PANG) and Signet Group. The Standard Group, Nation Media Group, Royal Media Services and the Media Council of Kenya as named as interested parties. PANG and Signet were accused of also switching off the media houses on the free-to-air platforms. "As at the time of the instant application, broadcast content from the interested parties has not been available on the digital terrestrial platforms controlled by the 3rd and 4th respondent," said KUJ and MLA. And in a separate case related to the protests, two sportsmen were accused of urging protesters to head to the State House. The Directorate of Criminal Investigations asked the court to detain former boxing captain, Suleiman Wanjau, and ex-Harambee Stars player, Robert Otiti, for 10 days to allow time for investigation on alleged computer misuse and cybercrime offences. DCI claimed that Wanjau and Otiti posted on social media false information about the protests and a timetable about the day's events. The two are are also accused to infiltrating the peaceful protests and engaging in unlawful acts, including vandalism. Their lawyer, lawyers Babu Owino, John Maina and Abna Mango opposed the application, arguing that there was no solid evidence to link the two to any criminal act. Meanwhile, Chief Justice Martha Koome toured the Kikuyu Law Courts where buildings were torched on Wednesday. The CJ said the illegal act would claw back strides to take justice closer to the people.

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Court forces CA to restore TV signals as footballer sued

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