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The Law Society of Kenya (LSK) has called out the Communication Authority for threatening the media over how the houses are reporting the Gen Z demonstration.

The CA cautioned the media houses against reporting in a manner that would intensify unrest in the country and said they must provide responsible and responsive programming.

LSK said they took note of the CA’s letter to media houses warning them of the manner in which recent protests and human rights violations have been reported and said that is a concerning move.

“While we appreciate the concerns raised by the Authority, we wish to remind the Authority that their role as regulators does not extend to determining what news is disseminated but rather that the news so disseminated does not contravene the express provisions of Article 33 of the Constitution.

“We put the Communication Authority to task to qualify the alleged bias in reporting by the media. We take the view that it is not the duty of the media to sanitize unconstitutional violations of human rights through toned-down or favorable reporting.

“We wish to point out that there is no neat, balanced, or objective way of reporting rogue police brutality, extrajudicial killings, government impunity, or lack of integrity. The media have a constitutional duty to report information as it is, and the Communication Authority cannot extinguish that duty through baseless threats and unqualified warnings,” LSK said in a statement dated Thursday, July 18, 2024 and signed by its President Faith Odhiambo.

LSK said the duty of the authority is owed to the people of Kenya, not to the government, and that the airing of shocking images is neither novel nor peculiar to Kenyan media.

“These images are the result of heinous actions whose existence must be informed to the public and whose perpetration must be called out in the strongest terms possible. While we agree that the media ought to maintain respect for the victims and their families, dissemination of information is a fundamental principle of democracy and is necessitated not only by Article 33 on freedom of the media but equally by Article 35 on access to information.

“We will challenge any intended interference with the constitutional freedom of the media and limitation of the Kenyan people’s access to information,” it said.

Police brutality

The lawyers’ union also added their voice to how the police have handled the demonstrators and have demanded reforms within the service.

“Simultaneously, we demand urgent and drastic reform within the National Police Service to live up to the standard set in the Constitution. We are bemused that despite the change of guard in the leadership of the service, the atrocities being perpetrated by the officers have continued, if not increased.

“This indicates a systemic problem that must urgently be rectified. We call on the Acting Inspector General of Police to refrain from being drawn into the historic mess and lead a sustainable, overdue change within the police; there is no honour in a legacy tainted with violations of human rights,” LSK added.

LSK is among the public bodies that have come out to call out the police because of the manner in which they handled the protesting youth.

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