Court Postpones Digital Migration Petition

This follows after the High Court postponed a petition by activist Okiya Omtata seeking to compel the Communications Authority of Kenya (CAK) to restore the analogue signal as the digital migration stand off is being resolved.

Omtata had moved to court challenging the decision by CAK to switch off the analogue television signals for Citizen TV, NTV, QTV and KTN.

The case which, was to be heard on Wednesday, was postponed after CAK raised objections on the jurisdiction of the High Court on a matter that has already been determined by the Supreme Court.

CAK raised a preliminary objection to the hearing of the petition that seeks to compel it to allow the three media houses to resume broadcasts as they set up their digital broadcast infrastructure.

In his petition, Omtata argues that CAK selectively implemented the Supreme Court’s orders and ended up violating the rights of majority of Kenyans who depend on the three media houses for information.

 

CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS

The High Court in Nairobi had ordered Omtata to serve three media houses with a petition challenging their switch-off by the regulator.

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

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

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

Information Cabinet Secretary Fred Matiang’i had earlier 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 90 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

Tags:

Citizen TV Maureen Murimi KTN Digital Migration high court NTV Okiya Omtata citizen High Court in Nairobi Digital Migration Case DIGITAL VS ANALOGUE Okiya

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