Mutua was right in banning songs from public places

It is our collective sense of what is wrong and right that gives us bearing and informs our being as a people. A nation rises or falls based on its morality and values. We cannot afford to sacrifice who we are, who have always been, who we should be in the pursuit of opportunities.

It is a fact that the youth are vulnerable to the adverse effects of content. The abundant foreign content is a great contributor to the societal breakdown we are experiencing. Retrogressive culture that is at odds with who we are is being pushed as the new norm.

For this very reason, it is opportune to be reminded of our values, mores, norms and morals as a people to curb the looming corruption by inimical films and television programmes. As a State Corporation Kenya Film Classification Board (KFCB) mandated to regulate film and broadcast content, the board is alive to the fact that technology continues to open new, affordable and convenient frontiers for content creation and distribution.

Protection of children from exposure to harmful content is KFCB's core business. They rate and classify films and broadcast content to promote Kenya's culture, national values and aspirations, and to protect children from exposure to harmful content. That's the rationale behind our work the law establishing the Board is Films and Stage Plays Act, CAP 222.

Films include anything audiovisual while stage plays include all public performances - drama, music, discos, theatre, strip clubs, and name it! The programming code for radio and TV under the Kenya Information and Communications Act (KICA) donates the rating and classification of radio and television programmes to the KFCB. Chapter three of the code says all programmes aired during the Watershed Period (5am to 10pm) must be suitable for family viewing and listening.

The songs in question contain scenes and language intended for adult audiences hence our decision to restrict them for adults only. Stage performances are rated either suitable or not suitable for children since you can put watershed restrictions on them like in the case of audiovisual. Responsibility should be the mother of all our engagements. We should not be blinded by the thrills of gain, highs, achievements or accolades. I support Dr Ezekiel Mutua. The two songs are not suitable for children.

Let the perverts who find them funny go and enjoy them in clubs. We are the masters of the gadgets under our stewardship. This makes it irresponsible to consume all in the media buffet, or worse still embrace technology with zero concern for others.