Media shutdown: Journalists roughed up as govt blocks delivery of court order

For the fourth day running the government has continued to defy two court orders requiring it to reinstate the transmission of four TV stations.

On Saturday, Royal Media Services lawyers had a difficult time delivering the court orders to the Inspector General of Police Joseph Boinnet and the Communication Authority. The serving of the orders was blocked with state agencies roughing up court processors and journalists.

After Royal Media Services secured orders against ICT Cabinet Secretary Joe Mucheru, his interior counterpart Fred Matiang’i, the Attorney General, Inspector General of Police Joseph Boinnet and the Communication Authority, Kamau Kuria & Company Advocates had the responsibility of delivering the court order to the five agencies.

First at the Inspector General’s office where Court Clerk Kenneth Maingi was denied serving the top cop. Boinnet’s secretary reported that the IG who was at his office at the time could not receive the order as it was not a working day, and asked Maingi to return on Monday.

As an alternative, Maingi chose to leave the documents at Boinnet’s reception. But the IG’s secretary would be ordered to deliver the court order and a copy of the court petition back to Maingi before he left. Her attempt took a turn when she spotted Citizen TV’s camera that was recording the incident, opting to take off.

Still, bent on returning the documentation Boinett’s secretary chose to leave them at the fence for Maingi to pick.

The court process server however had done his job.

“The law is in force 24/7. Clearly those officer don’t understand the law.  You can be served any day of the week, even at night,” says RMS legal representative in the case Gibson Kamau Kuria.

At the Communication Authority, the process of serving the regulator was more challenging.

First, Maingi and his colleague from the law firm were denied access into the CA offices and ordered to leave.

When no movement was seen, these security men chose to forcefully eject them, engaging the court servers in a running battle while fighting Citizen TV’s photo-journalists Mike Kariuki and Paul Chirchir who were filming the exchange.

The court servers were forced to throw the court order through the gate and left. On Friday, Okiya Omtata, a petitioner in a similar case, had rough time at the Communications Authority in his attempt to serve similar orders.

In the High Court orders, government and its officers have been restrained from entering or being at the Royal Media services broadcast installation at Limuru.

The government and its agents have also been restrained from interfering with RMS broadcasting freedom from the Limuru site and others across the country. The government was ordered to desist from placing padlocks at the RMS transmission room in Limuru until the case is mentioned on the 14th of February.

Kuria is now preparing to institute contempt of court charges against the government.

“Once you know what an order says you must implement it. If you don’t you will be in contempt of court and we will sue them,” he says.

This the second order to be ignored by government since switching four TV stations off on Tuesday. Still, the deputy president wants Kenyans to abide with the law which the state has no regard for and continued to disobey.

“No one is above the law in Kenya irrespective of who we are, we must submit to the dictates of our constitution,”said Ruto on Saturday at the burial of Yvonne Wamalwa.

Reports indicate that the government could seek to justify its defiance of the court orders on Monday claiming this is a security situation.

A group of civil societies led by the Kenya Human Rights Commission are said to be planning a demonstration against the government on Monday terming the media shutdown unconstitutional.