Activist To Serve Media Houses With Digital Migration Petition

Justice Isaac Lenaola ordered activist Okiya Omtata to serve Citizen TV, KTN, NTV and QTV, under the consortium of Africa Digital Network Limited (ADN), with the digital migration petition challenging the stations' switch off by CAK a week ago.

Justice Lenaola further asked the three media houses to file their responses on the stand off before any orders can be granted.

Omtata had moved to court seeking an order to have the analogue signals for the three media houses restored as stakeholders solve the petition.

In his petition, Omtata argued that the citizenry is being denied the basic constitutional rights to access information.

He further accuses CAK of 'maliciously targetting the three media houses'.

The case will be heard on February 25th, 2015.

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Information Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i has defended the move by CAK to switch off the signals saying the authority served a notice to the media houses asking them to switch off their analogue transmitters by midnight February 13th, 2015 in accordance with a Supreme Court ruling.

The three media houses want analogue television broadcasting reinstated for 100 more days to facilitate a smooth transition process.

The media owners, while appearing before the Senate Committee on Legal Affairs and Human Rights, the joint Parliamentary Committee on Broadcast and Library and the Senate Committee on ICT, requested for more time to set up infrastructure in readiness for digital migration.

The media owners told the committee that they will ship in one million set-top boxes at a cost of about Ksh 4.5 billion to ensure free access to television.

By Maureen Murimi