[kictanet] Digital TV signal Distribution row- at Kenya IGF

[Grace Githaiga]

Listers
 
A different view of the story. 

 
http://www.eastafricapress.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=612:a-different-coverage&catid=69&Itemid=138
 
 
A Chinese invasion?
It was not only Okiya Omtata who went bananas last week. On Tuesday, it was reported that a Chinese firm had been illegally awarded a tender to distribute TV content in Kenya as the country migrates from analogue to digital broadcasting.
NTV and Citizen TV threw a major tantrum. The two stations had formed a consortium and applied for the job. They felt they had been treated unfairly by the Communications Commission of Kenya, which awarded the Chinese firm.
On Tuesday, the NTV went hysterical in its first news item. Kenya’s freedom of press was on auction because China, which does not respect press freedom, had been awarded the right to control content of Kenyan media. A gloomy Wallace Kantai was almost hyperventilating instead of objectively reporting story. The incoherent story was clearly forced from the Nation Group’s top dogs to be the first news item lest anyone misses it.  Come Wednesday, Nation published an angry front-page story on the issue. It was a tirade, really. Not only did Nation raise questions about how the contract was awarded but also went hammer and tongs at the Chinese. It announced a Chinese invasion of Kenya:
“The company has got the licence to distribute digital broadcast signals, giving it control of key strategic infrastructure and role in Kenya’s transition to digital broadcasting.
“China does not have a free press and is notorious for censoring the media, including over the Internet and restricting civil liberties.”
What was the story about, again? A government contract or China’s human rights record? Who had been given the licence: the government of China or a company from China? How come we do plenty of other businesses with China? Radio China broadcasts in Kiswahili in Kenya. Our newspapers use articles published by Xinhua, the official Chinese news agency. Have we not read or watched stories on Kenyan media about the mighty Asian giant? Do we not consume their products with gusto?
“The profile of Chinese companies in Kenya has been on the rise, with Chinese contractors winning large contracts in road construction, building of new pipelines, airports, ports, telecommunications and energy sector jobs”, Nation wailed.
We do know the details of how the tender ended up in the hands of the Chinese firm and there is every likelihood the government, or some well connected individuals, are privy to a sweetheart deal (a top Chinese government official was in the country not so long ago, and the President and Prime Minister have been wooing the Chinese). But does that constitute “control of key strategic infrastructure”? What is more strategic than the government giving away its oil refinery and pipeline to a foreign government? According to CCK, there will be three distributors of digital content.
The same day, Citizen TV reported, but in a milder way, the loss of its joint bid with the Nation Group for the digital distribution licence. On Friday, Radio Citizen’s Waweru Mburu took up the war against the invading Chinese. His programme ‘Yaliyotendeka’ included a huge chunk of the Nation story, sometimes word for word.
Waweru warned Kenyans of a Chinese attempt to colonize us. Their substandard products have swamped the local market. Their construction jobs are shoddy. Soon, expect the Chinese to own kiosks around Kenya… Hello, has anyone forced Kenyans to take the hands of the Chinese? To consume their services or goods?
That was shamefully excessive; totally unprofessional.

 
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