Kiyiapi accuses media of biased coverage

Restore and Build Kenya party presidential candidate, Prof James Ole Kiyiapi. Photo/FILE   NATION MEDIA GROUP

By LILLIAN ONYANGO laonyango@ke.nationmedia.com
Posted  Sunday, January 6  2013 at  16:57

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Restore and Build Kenya party (RBK) presidential candidate Prof James Ole Kiyiapi on Sunday accused the media of biased coverage by favouring veteran politicians as compared to new entrants.

He said the media had a responsibility to uphold fairness during its coverage in a balanced manner for all aspirants.

“I would like the media to be in the forefront to help Kenyans identify good leaders because right now there is a very strong bias towards the old order, “politics as usual” the same old people,” he toldNation after attending Sunday church service at the Christ Is the Answer Ministries, Valley Road in Nairobi.

He said last week’s coverage his party RBK and the United Democratic Forum party(UDF), which did their presidential nominations on the same day, was biased.

“You cannot talk about free and fair elections yet you are only focussing on the same old people without wanting to look a different side and see what else in happening,” he said. “It is a let down to the nation but it will not discourage us, we will keep fighting.”

He also urged Kenyans to focus beyond academic qualities when choosing leaders in the forthcoming General Election.

“I am hoping that the Kenyan people will elect very credible leaders so that in the next five years we will embark on a serious business of aligning the laws as per the Constitution,” Prof Kiyiapi said.

He added that Kenya had been caught up “in a transitional quagmire” during which MPs kept changing laws causing confusion on the position of the law in certain matters such as the academic qualifications of future leaders.

“After the elections, we have an opportunity to really look at the laws afresh and they can always be amended,” he said. “But what will be important is to focus on bringing high quality of leadership, in terms of integrity because education is just one standard. We should also look into are personal character, competence, national and patriotic spirit.”

Prof Kiyiapi went on to state that Kenyans should set their sights on the changes which will be seen after the elections as it will be the first one since the promulgation of the Constitution.