Government Threatens to Revoke Broadcast Rights for Popular Kass FM Radio

Station accused of inciting the Kalenjin against the Maasai following Kilgoris by-elections

Popular and controversial Kalenjin FM station – KASS – might be off air beginning today if the CCK decides to go ahead and close it down for broadcasting what government called inciting and inflammatory material.

In a letter circulated to media houses, reproduced below and signed by Information PS Bitame Ndemo, the government has asked the station’s management to ‘show cause’ why its broadcast licence should not be withdrawn for endangering peace and tranquility.

---++++---+++----

PS Bitange Ndemo's letter to KASS FM Management
BY BITANGE NDEMO,
PS INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATIONS
Ministry of Information and Communications
Office of the Permanent Secretary

24th June 2008

Ref No. MIC/A.11/03 (93)

Mr C.K Joshua
Executive Chairman,
Kalee Ltd
P.O Box 2536-0063
NAIROBI

Dear Joshua

RE: NOTICE TO SHOW CAUSE WHY YOUR BROADCAST LICENCE SHOULD NOT BE SUSPENDED FOR AIRNG INCITING AND INFLAMMATORY LIVE BROADCAST THROUGH KASS FM

It has come to the attention of the government that KASS FM has been involved in broadcasting material that is prejudicial to national security, national healing and the national peace, healing and reconciliation.

It is noted that on several broadcast aired by your station during the past few months ,and even including today, you failed, ignored or neglected to observe that the programmes do note incite the audiences, cause breach f peace ,defame or otherwise upset individuals groups, other corporate bodies and, or the state.

We also refer to numerous complaints filed by the government to the media council of Kenya concerning your broadcasting style and lack of standards, which you have ignored .in particular, on Saturday May 31, 2008, you contrary to the stipulations of your license of you licence, and in blatant breach of ethical practice, aired the following broadcast under the topic "lawlessness in Kenya," with a studio panellist, one Sammy Kemei saying:

"Ngamwa agobo bikchok chekipa barabara en ng'alekab bolatet.Bichotok ko mi jela rani.Icheget go maab kobay bik.Ichek go kigaba komach haki nenywa.kiip kobolya kityo eng ng'alegab bolatet.Go bichotk go kimagat kimut kotini haraka go kaginam.Lakini agot kimamagat kanam chito amun kenam chito go kitamoche kenai kabisa gel kiyai makosa ne u ni ag ni ak ni…ng'olyot amnesty inegei go ne gilen onyochi gaat chito,lkaini an anee abwotii ole kinyochi gaat chit ne kiyai makosa..Ang bikchok ii,kesomchini nyoetabgaat amu kiyai makosa nee.Ma magat kenyhochikat bichotok,magat kityakta amu kigirat en buch….moche kigoch pressure policesi karon mutai komarat chi buch."

The gist of the above broadcast is that the Kalenjin do not need amnesty as they committed no crime. The or caused to be broadcast material that was inciting caller said that those who killed were only fighting for their democratic right and those who stole the elections are also murderers.


Further on Monday June 16, 2008, you broadcast or cased to broadcast material that was inciting. Your panelist spoke at the beginning of the programme about the agitation for the release of the youth arrested following the post election violence. He said people must ascertain the presence of the youth in police custody instead of assuming that any missing person was arrested and is in custody. He said many families were sitting back in belief that all the missing persons in their families were arrested by police and were in custody, without verifying the true position of the situation. He said the missing persons 'could have long been killed'

In a separate broadcast, this time on the subject of the by-elections in Ainamoi and Kilgoris, a caller had the following to say, without moderation from the studio:

"…the by-election was so full of irregularities that many people were forced to vote for Konchella forcefully. I urge the community to gear up for a serious s confrontation with the Maasais…. I appeal to the Kalenjin people to get prepared for something serious….even if it means our children and women are moved out of Trans Mara.

Another studio presenter, Kipchumba arap Sergon, expressed unhappiness saying police spokesman Eric Kiraithe has said the 14 days provided for in the constitution are not to carry out investigations. He said Attorney General Amos Wako "is not doing his job well". He added: "we have heard and seen many scandals taking place in Kenya and the AG is not dealing with them sufficiently .that is why we feel there is unfair application of law in Kenya"

The consequences of this irresponsible and inflammatory broadcast are likely to inflame passions and cause tensions, including fear and despondency, among large groups of listeners ,especially among communities in the rift valley province .this coming hot on the heels of the tragic post election violence ,does not augur well or the peace building process and only helps to accentuate animosities ,again among large groups of people.

Your station's lackadaisical attitude in the face of the most dire warnings an cautionary notes from the government and objections from many concerned listeners of all walks of life in the rift valley and further afield,amounts to a presumption of impunity. This will no longer be tolerated by the government.

You will recall, on several occasions, we have held meetings with government officials where these issues were brought o your attention. Regrettably, despite your oral commitment to upholding journalistic ethics and promotion of peace and harmony, your station has continued to broadcast undesirable material.

Your attention is drawn to Clause 11, Section C of the second schedule of the Media Act, 2007 n the code of ethics and Conduct of Journalism, which sates: "News, reports or commentaries should not be written or broadcast in a manner likely to inflame the passions, aggravate the tensions or accentuate to the strained relations between the communities concerned.Equally, so articles or broadcasts with the potential to exacerbate communal trouble should be avoided".

We also refer to our letter which granted you a license to operate a radio station and remind you that the government reserves the right prescribe such conditions as are deemed necessary for the safeguarding of peace and national security.

While the government upholds freedom of expression, including an unfettered media sector and Kenya has long played host to the largest corps of foreign correspondents on this continent outside post-independence South Africa, including world-class broadcasters, it is expected that every broadcaster shall balance this freedom wit responsibility. By dint of your license the government expects you to observe the highest professional standards and avoid broadcasts that are likely to inflame tensions and, or encourage acts of violence or militate against good taste and civilized behaviour. We are very concerned indeed with the trend your station has taken.

In view of the forgoing therefore, you are required to show cause, within seventy two hours of the date hereof, why you broadcast license should not be withdrawn for endangering peace and tranquility. In the event hat no written response is received within the stipulated period, the government will proceed to institute appropriate action without further reference to you whatsoever.

In the meantime, you should desist forthwith from broadcasting inflammatory material.

Yours sincerely

Signed

Bitange Ndemo, PhD, CBS
PERMANENT SECRETARY

CC

Mrs. Peris Nkonge
Ag Director General
Commission Communications of Kenya

Mr.Wachira Waruru
Chairman
Media Council of Kenya
Nairobi

---++++---+++----

The Media Council of Kenya has already reacted furiously to the threat to close down the station because, as an umbrella media regulatory body, it says it has the capacity to act as an arbiter between government and media houses. The council’s chairman Waruru Kanja also added that the last thing they ever want to see happening is to have broadcasting licences withdrawn and that the council was not happy the government wrote directly to Kass rather than the media council.

In a rejoinder letter to the PS late last evening, the management of KASS FM has denied the charges level against it by government. Meanwhile, the media council is investigating the allegations.

In 1995, the broadcast licence of Kass FM was suspended by the CCK for seven days over allegations of incitement to violence during the heated referendum campaigns for a new constitution. The station was only then allowed back on air after it gave the CCK copies of the next three months programming.

Kass FM is very popular among younger listeners in the larger Rift Valley area.

Update 13h00 Kenya time

The deadline to close down KASS FM expired one hour ago but KASS FM is still ON-AIR.

The Media Owners Association (MOA) spokesperson Hannington Gaya has come to the defense of KASS whom he revealed are crying of being victimised because of a former partner/employee who has strong links in government. The station has denied any wrong doing and complain about constant government harassment saying that other vernacular FM stations are broadcasting worse content yet they have not been warned by authorities.

The MOA have said they want to listen to the alleged programming before passing any judgement.

To all Kalenjin speakers in Kenya, you can tune to KASS on the following FM frequencies:

Nairobi: 89.0
Eldoret: 90.0
Kericho/Bomet/Kisii 91.0
Kisumu: 91.0
Nakuru: 92.5
Kakamega: 102.6

International listeners can catch Kass FM online on the website at the link provided at the top of this post.

Meanwhile, the issue has now taken a political angle when some members of parliament (mainly from ODM) called at press conference at bunge this morning and criticized the government move terming it an affront to press freedom.

Ababu Namwamba, who spoke on behalf of the MPs, criticised Bitame Ndemo's threat to pull KASS FM from the airwaves saying that what Kass was being accused of has been in the public domain for the last six months and has actually been repeatedly uttered by politicians and members of the public, including being published in newspapers and other media outlets and yet the government had not arrested anyone.

Ababu added that YES indeed the elections were stolen and it does not amount to inciting the public by 'merely expressing an opinion' on issues of public interest.

More later.

Want to be Rich? Grow Grey Hair and Belong

Our national priorities often negate the very tenets of what we stand and aspire to become. Here we are as a nation crafting glossy vision 2030 which in light of what we practice is unwittingly designed to be an illusion at best and mirage at worst. Kenya is not drifting in the doldrums because of want or lack of policies. Far from it since almost every government office has its shelf suffocating from dusty white papers. The problem is these blueprints were all designed with the singular objective of not being implemented. Instead they were authored to create impressions of motion bereft of any real movement.

We live in a dynamic world that demands progressive leadership from in front and by example. Sadly for Kenya our fate rests with dinosaurs who are so allergic to new ideas they will readily and summarily dismiss any attempt to infuse creativity as insubordination. Our penchant to fall for TOKENISM for progress is infectious. When confronted by challenges we often seek quick fixes to wriggle ourselves out. In the meantime we leave the problem unresolved and on a worse scenario festering underneath to reappear with full furry at a later date.

Old is wood

The adage that old is gold is frequently used to intimidate or even cover up incompetence. What is passed as experience may as well be a catalogue of past failures that clouds your vision for a better and efficient route to success. At independence we correctly identified poverty, ignorance and disease as our primary enemies. But almost half century later we are still shamelessly shifting goal posts with coloured targets which are nothing but functions of the original malices.

Only in Kenya do you find greying technocrats who owe their positions exclusively to their native tongue. Just imagine only four permanent secretaries of strategic ministries share close to 250 years between them. And they are in good company starting with the civil service boss who has clocked more than 20,000 days on this planet and still counting while directing technical levers of the government. Smart Muthaura even knows how to draw an MP’s salary and more without the headache of campaigning. All he needs is a circular and hurrah a PS’s remuneration hits seven digits per month.

Road to nirvana

In the meantime, the most important cogs in the wheel of national wholesome development are relegated to the back banner. Getting rusty never killed or so it seems. Only when we start from the basics by squarely addressing the pillars of EDUCATION and HEALTH CARE will we mark a departure from our hitherto circular dance with tokenism. We must make no mistake is substituting quantity for quality. Making our dinosaur PSs millionaires every month is the epitome of inverted priority. Instead we could chose to permanently pave the road to nirvana by competitively remunerating our teachers, nurses and doctors.