The Kenyan media has filled our ears with lots of negative reporting against the Kenya Information and communication bill.
In
my own scrutiny I see the partisan negative portrayal of the good bill
as lack of responsibity and advocattion for an irresponsible society,The
KENYA WE DON'T WANT.
To be more realistic,Can someone please tell
me which industry is not regulated in Kenya,medical practitioners,
engineers,matatu operators,banks,education service providers,the list is
endless.
The only problem that they claim to be wrong with the
bill is the fine of Kshs 1 Million for individual journalists and Kshs
20million for a media house that deals in irresponsible reporting or
violation of professional code of conduct in the semi-professional
industry.
They claim that the bill will gag media of the highly enjoyed freedom of expression...but they never tell us how.
Iddi Amin was realistic in saying,"You have freedom of speech,but freedom after speech,that I cannot guarantee"
Amin
meant you can freely talk,but your destiny shall then depend on weather
you said the truth or not,weather you said what is right or
wrong,weather what you said was supposed to be said or not and if it
were to be said weather you were the right person to say it or not!
A peacefull society is driven by one major principle-Reward good deeds
and punish evil ones-that's why God promises both heaven and hell to
people based on how they choose to conduct themselves.
I think
that fully answers the question of the fines.No more propaganda,hate
speech or use of media to further selfish political interest but the
media must now be responsible to inform and emancipate,not to mislead
and derail as we have witnessed in the past.
merits of the bill
this is not an overstatement
1.The
bill advocates 45% broadcast must be local content,the same media has
to promote local talents and industry other than promoting
Mexican,Chinese or Nollywood industries at the peril of our own film and
theatre industery.This bill deserves an applause.
2.On
responsible reporting-how many of you are not aware of the constant
court cases by bloggers Robert Alai,Dennis Itumbi and the likes...This
will now come to an end since the bill also includes blogging as part of
media, a truth we can not run away from.I am a blogger but a
responsible one.
With these few few remarks,I believe the president should move with speed to sign the bill into law so that irresponsible reporting ends even on the subject of the bill itself
