The Kenyan parliament this morning kicked out parliamentary journalists, who will from now on only be allowed into the House on an invite basis.
The order to vacate the media centre was issued by the Clerk of the National Assembly, Justin Bundi, who said it would be abolished to create room for house committees.
The order has however not been received well by journalists and Kenyans at large with reporters at the parliamentary buildings calling it an interference with the freedom of the press, contrary to sections 34 and 35 of the constitution.
“This is the worst form of parliamentary dictatorship. Why do they want to operate in darkness while we have the fourth estate checking on all the arms of the government?” human rights lawyer Lempaa Soyianka told HumanIPO.
“The constitution demands public participation in a democracy… it is the saddest day in our history for parliament to flex its muscles and muzzle the media.
“The media has paid the ultimate price for leading the war against the united greed that even the so called young mps are unable to resist.”
According to the constitution of Kenya under Article 34: “The State shall not (a) exercise control over or interfere with any person engaged in broadcasting, the production or circulation of any publication or the dissemination of information by any medium…”
Article 33 meanwhile guarantees the right for all to seek, receive or impart information or ideas.
Twitter and Facebook are currently alive with Kenyans emotionally protesting the move, seeing it as a way of hiding important information from them.
They termed the move as “colonial” and “tyrannical”, while some want parliament to be given a total blackout with the tag #SomeoneTellBundi trending.
The hindrance of the media to cover sessions live in parliament will remind many of a similar move by the former government, which raided The Standard group in 2006 in a move to stop them from publishing an article, and the recentraid on the Daily Monitor in Uganda.
