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"legal_name": "Edwin Ochieng Yinda",
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"content": "Thank you, Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, for giving me this opportunity to contribute to this very important Bill. I want to start by thanking the Minister for Information and Communications for bringing this Bill to the Floor of the House for us to discuss. I would also like to thank the Ministry for the work they have put into this very important Bill. I have attended many workshops where many stakeholders came up with many views, amendments or improvements that they wanted to be included in this Bill. It is my hope that the Minister will ensure that those important suggestions will be taken care of before this Bill is finally passed. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, in this country, we need to look more on media ownership. There are many media owners who have dual ownership of both print and electronic media. If that trend continues without being checked, it can be very dangerous. We could have an individual owning all those institutions. One can almost do anything with them. Insemination of information is very important. As we know, information is power. If you have a way of passing information, and you pass it irresponsibly, the results can be catastrophic. Therefore, it is my wish that some kind of control is put into the media ownership. Many of my colleagues have talked about the local radio stations and, more so, vernacular radio stations. We all know that during the skirmishes that we experienced at the beginning of the year, some vernacular radio stations were used very irresponsibly. We know that if information is passed through the radio without being controlled, it could cause serious fire in the country. We saw what happened. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, in this regard, it would be my wish that Kenya could borrow from Tanzania. As much as we, in Kenya, think that we have the best country and that everything goes on well here, I would like to think that Tanzania is actually a success story. I am saying that because in Tanzania, the languages of communication are English and Kiswahili. That is all. Therefore, Tanzanians have managed to be more nationalistic than Kenyans. It is almost impossible to hear somebody in Tanzania saying that he or she comes from one ethnic group or the other. So, it makes me wonder when we, especially as Members of Parliament, stand here and go as far as encouraging vernacular radio stations. Any radio station in this country should be able to broadcast what all Kenyans can listen to and understand. For example, when you have a radio station broadcasting in Dholuo, the only people who can understand what is being broadcasted are the Luos and nobody else. That development is not in the best interest of a country like ours. I would like to see a situation in which we do away with vernacular radio stations and promote the stations that broadcast languages that all people in this country can understand. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, we lack patriotism in this country. This is normally seen in the print media. We have very irresponsible journalists. They write whatever they want irrespective of what fires they could light. I am happy to note that in the Bill, there are punitive measures which have been introduced to make sure that anybody who writes anything about anybody, if he cannot substantiate, he could be punished. However, I would like to see the punishment brought up to a level where those in the print media would think twice before printing anything derogative in their newspapers. At the moment, 3458 PARLIAMENTARY DEBATES November 12, 2008 the fines are more or less non-existent. I think even the fines that are currently being proposed are not punitive enough. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I would like to see a situation where if any newspaper writes any damaging article about an individual, that newspaper could be fined, say, Kshs5 million or Kshs10 million. This will usher in responsible journalism. I would like the law to protect the media and the users as well. At the moment, the users are at the mercy of the media. Anything can be written about you but you have no recourse to fight back apart from going to the courts. However, the courts also have limitations on what amounts of fine they can levy. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, the licensing should also be a way of punishment. At the moment, as my colleagues have said, we have many newspapers, radio stations and people who have been issued with frequencies which they do not use. I think they use them more as a trading tool. They look for anybody who wants to start radio station or television station and if the price is right, they sell the frequencies. I think there should be a rule that give any applicant a limited period when he should roll out his service. If that time lapses, then the frequency is automatically withdrawn and passed on to the people who would use them. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I mention patriotism again. Sometimes when you read what Kenyans write about Kenya or listen to radio stations broadcast about this country, you may at time think that they are talking about a different country and not their own country. I would like to see a law put in place where Kenyans should practice to be patriotic. This is why when we talk to foreigners about our country, we talk almost jeering the country. This is the country of your great grandfather, great grandmothers and your own country but you talk as if you really would not care whatever happens to the country. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I would like to see Kenyans love their country. This is lacking at the moment. When you look at those who own radio sets in this country, it is almost impossible for villagers to access radios, because of their price and the need to either buy batteries or have electricity. I would like to see the Government encourage the production of cheap radio sets which could use solar power, so that as many Kenyans as possible can access radios. At the moment, less than 60 per cent of Kenyans listen to radio. Mr. Temporary Deputy Speaker, Sir, I would like to end by commending the Minister for a job well-done. I would like to remind him that some of the recommendations that were made by the stakeholders in the workshops that many of us attended should be put into consideration when debating the Bill before passing it."
}