Media house barred from covering Parliament

Kenya's Parliament Speaker Kenneth Marende has barred the Radio Africa media group from covering House proceedings for two months.

The ban affects radio stations Kiss FM and Classic FM over a talk show on MPs pay that was aired on Kiss FM.

Mr Marende's decision arose out of remarks by a Kiss FM radio presenter that his ruleS did not meet "the barest minimum standard of good taste".

Radio Africa journalists were thrown out of Parliament immediately the Speaker made the ruling which, he said demeaned the integrity of the House and its members.

Trespass

They have been barred from accessing the press gallery, the press centre, parliamentary committees, press conferences at Parliament and the precincts of the National Assembly.

Any journalist who will be found trying to "trespass" will be arrested, according to orders from the Clerk of the National Assembly.

The matter was brought to the attention of the Speaker last week by Kisumu Town East Shakeel Shabir (ODM) who said Kiss FM morning show presenter Caroline Mutoko had uttered demeaning words to describe the Speaker during a discussion on the pay raise for MPs.

In his ruling, Mr Marende said he had carefully studied the transcript of the morning show aired on July 6, 2010 and found some of the remarks demeaning to the Speaker and the integrity of Parliament.

Core partner

He said while the media was a core partner of Parliament and other arms of government, it must always exercise responsible reporting of issues.

“The dignity of the House must at all times be protected,” he said.

In making his ruling, Mr Marende acted in the same way his predecessor Francis ole Kaparo who in April 2006 banned Royal Media from covering parliamentary proceedings.

Royal Media was then accused of irresponsible journalism and abuse of the House integrity by one of its presenters.

Members of Parliament had expressed outrage over its programme titled Yaliyotendeka and demanded cancellation of the station’s frequencies for violating broadcast ethics.

Following concerns raised, the then Minister for Information Mutahi Kagwe invited Parliament to take legal action on behalf of MPs on the matter.