Ruto appealed to KTN to make public details of the specific government individuals who threatened them
President William Ruto on Sunday, June 30 addressed a report by Standard Group Limited TV station, KTN News on Tuesday, June 25 which revealed that the government had threatened to shut them down.
Through an announcement during their live coverage at 4:09 pm last Tuesday, it was announced that there were threats to shut down the TV based along Mombasa Road.
“In the wake of our detailed coverage of the ongoing protests that has been organised by Gen Z protesters, we would like to inform our viewers that we have received threats from authorities of intention to shut us down. We would like to inform the public of our commitment to defend the public interest and we shall not be cowed by any threats,” the broadcaster announced.
A screengrab of KTN announcing that the government was threatening to shut them down on June 25, 2024. /VIRAL TEA KE
The media house did not detail the specific office or the individual who had threatened to shut them. However, it was noted that the threats emerged as a result of the live coverage of the Tuesday protests.
Speaking during a roundtable interview with digital media outlets at State House, the Head of State appealed to KTN to make public details of the specific government individuals who threatened them, so that action can be taken against them.
According to Ruto, there are channels Kenyans from all corners can utilise, such as the Media Complaints Commission, for anyone who feels aggrieved by the day-to-day news coverage by any media house in Kenya, an alternative to resorting to using threats to scare them from reporting factually.
“KTN should make a formal report of who threatened them so that they can be dealt with in accordance with the law.
“Nobody should threaten any media personality for whatever reason either on account of what they reported or on account of what they did and if I have a complaint with a media house or a media personality, I know where to take them in terms of reporting them to the right agencies and have the matter sorted out within the parameters of the law,” he said.
The President further appreciated the presence of free media in Kenya, arguing that were it not the case, there would not be free media anywhere in the world. Hence, he affirmed that he has never had any complaints with any media house in the country regarding its reporting and that he was in support of free media.
“In Kenya, people report anything, everything, what is news, what is fake news, what is true and not true…I would really ask the media to act responsibly.
“There is no media house that I have called, there is no media person that I have called to tell them anything. I know very well the necessity of free media and I support media wholeheartedly,” he continued.
Ruto empathised with the tough times journalists face, especially during their on-field reporting where they can be exposed to dangers such as theft and attacks from criminals who damage their equipment.
“Media have also become victims of some of the criminals in our streets. Media have also inadvertently sometimes got into situations where their cameras are broken, in the confusion, in the running around when there is commotion and it is unfortunate,” he went on.
Regarding matters of police harassment towards journalists, Ruto stated that journalists have the power to report such cases to the necessary authorities, assuring them that the culprits will be dealt with, even within law enforcement.
He responded “if a particular policeman has harassed a journalist, the police have numbers, let us have them reported so that they can be dealt with in accordance with the law so that nobody escapes an institute’s impunity.
“Nobody is above the law. The president is not, the police are not, citizens are not. Everybody must be subject to the law,” he affirmed.
