By Dominic imbuga (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
Kenyan National Assembly speaker Justin Muturi has denied journalists have been barred from parliament, saying media coverage is important and press representatives will continue to cover proceedings without hindrance.
HumanIPO reported on Wednesday journalists would only be allowed into Parliament on an invite basis, sparking a barrage of criticism including from the Kenya Editors Guild.
Speaking yesterday (Thursday), Muturi said however there had been a “misconception” regarding Parliament’s future relationship with the media and that it was a question over capacity and space for officials to do their work.
“Following instructions issued yesterday (Wednesday) after long deliberations over concerns raised by members of the House Business Committee regarding measures to deal with congestions including the use of media centre by parliamentary committee, a misconception has been created that parliament has thrown out journalists from parliament, far from it,” read the statement.
“Press representatives have and will continue to cover parliamentary proceedings and committee proceedings without hindrance.”
Muturi added: “Over 230 members of both Houses do not have offices….parliamentary office holders including me, are operating from offices not commensurate to their status.”
John Mbadi, MP for Suba constituency, said the information that journalists were evicted from parliament was a serious concern to implicate the House over intolerance and criticism.
“Much as sometimes I don’t agree with the media especially when they misreport some of us and our activities, but the information that came out of this communication was seriously of concern to many of us because it was going to reflect this House as a House that is intolerant to criticism, which I think we are not,” he said.
The heated disagreement between Parliament and the media can be traced to the attempt by MPs to increase their salaries.
The legislature at one point threatened to slash the President’s salary and dismiss the Salaries and Remuneration Commission (SRC).
