Tuesday, August 16, 2011

Lumumba dismisses fears of crisis over remaining key bills



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By PETER NG’ETICH pngetich@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted  Monday, August 15  2011 at  22:00
IN SUMMARY
  • Anti-graft agency boss says House sittings can be extended by a year
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The ant-graft boss, Prof Patrick Lumumba, on Monday said Parliament might be extended by one year if key Bills are not passed.
He said there would be no constitutional crisis as portrayed by some individuals if the Bills were not passed by August 26.
Speaking in Nairobi on Monday at a meeting organised by Internews Network, an international not-for-profit media organisation, Prof Lumumba said the media should not set agendas as it could misinterpret issues and create problems.
“It would be a recipe for disaster if the media sets the agenda,” he said.
Prof Lumumba said the government set the agenda for the new Constitution and journalists should keep it on its toes but not try and interpret the document without the help of constitutional experts.
“The agenda for the new Constitution was set by the Coalition Government and the media’s role is to remind the public what should be done, but with the guidance of informed people like constitutional lawyers,” he said.
But publisher Barrack Muluka said if journalists had not set the agenda, the Government would not have delivered a new Constitution.
“The media has always set the agenda and it should continue doing so, especially in its editorials,” Mr Muluka said.
He said agenda-setting is about dialogue and providing a barometer of measure to politicians.
Nation Media Group editorial training coordinator Owino Opondo agreed, saying, the agenda set by journalists is for the public interest.
Prof Lumumba said quacks had invaded journalism. “This should not be allowed because they are ruining free and fair reporting,” he said.
Prof Lumumba said measures had to be taken to avoid tarnishing journalism’s image.
He also said the issue of tallying by media houses has to be handled with caution because it can cause tension similar to that following the 2007 polls.
“What is the expertise of a media house in handling tallies while proper rules of engagement are not in place?” Prof Lumumba asked.
He said Kenya’s democracy was still young and could not be allowed to endorse presidential candidates as is the case in the United States, whose democracy is about 200 years old.
“If democracy is a 400-metre race, then we have only done 20 metres,” he declared.

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