[kictanet] Role of the Media in Kenyan Elections

[Edith Adera]

Eric et al,

Suppressed opinions can be worse!

I happened to witness, first-hand, the Ghanaian campaigns and read about the elections; and the comments from Kenya's IEBC chair, who was an observer, about how they were conducted, how the media gave the citizens the space to air views even when things did not work including during the challenging of the elections. You know and can attest to the fact that Ghanaians are NOT the lot to silence (your Nigerian brothers are even more vocal). Ghanaians speak their minds and air their views freely. A Ghanaian once told me "when it comes to politics, every Ghanaian is a political analyst; when it comes to football, every Ghanaian is a football commentator"...you can't silence them.

Why do you want us to be different? Don't talk about Post-election violence, as Ghana has gone through worse.

My point, why did we have this effect of silencing voices? What are the implications of the deafening silence from the citizenry?

Edith
From: Eric Osiakwan [mailto:ericosiakwan at me.com]
Sent: March 11, 2013 12:37 PM
To: Edith Adera
Cc: KICTAnet - Media Editors Forum; KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions
Subject: Re: [kictanet] Role of the Media in Kenyan Elections

Edith hello:

Sometimes, it is better not to say nothing or pretend to be stupid for life to go on than to speak (demand your right) and end up with "violence" and life retrogresses - just saying.....

I think you Kenyans should really commend yourselves, you have raised the bar on electoral conduct and peaceful outcomes no matter how long it takes -- the level of maturity exhibited by the average Wananchi is awesome. I saw first hand the level of investment that went into this election by government, media, parties etc and by all means those investments must pay off -- democracy is an expensive enterprise.

Something just hit me, Nigeria elected a 55year old President and Ghana followed suit by electing a 54year old and now you Kenyans have elected a 51year old -- the youngest President if am not wrong (i stand corrected) and i have noting against the older folks but i think this is significant....

Edith, in other words what am saying is, dont beat yourself too hard, Nigeria invested in a voters register that did not turn out well but their elections was scored above board, Ghana invested in biometrics for our last elections and it did not work out well but we scored above board and Kenya has done same, raising the bar. Offcourse we need to do introspection and better the processes and systems for the future, starting now.

For now, am just excited for Africa, we would fix this continent of ours and make it the best place for generations to come #AfricaIsInMotion.

Good day and great week, ya all.

Eric here



On 11 Mar 2013, at 08:34, Edith Adera <eadera at idrc.ca<mailto:eadera at idrc.ca>> wrote:


Listers,

For the 2007 elections, Bwana Ndemo is on record here (KICTANET) condemning the role of the media in fueling the violence.

In 2013, the media played a different role. If you now reflect back - deep and hard - it occurred to me that  the over-rated, over-hyped, over-done "call for peace" was actually a "tool of oppression"!!

Why do I say this? Many a Kenyans found themselves speechless and voiceless....you were not given a chance to speak your mind, to question, to freely air your opinions or liberally reflect on the going ons.  You were promptly slapped with the "peace call" which immediately silenced you! Why should I feel silenced by "a call for peace"? Our national anthem talks of "peace and liberty", what happened to "liberty" during this period?

Most Kenyans locked themselves in their houses, scared stiff of the unknown. Reflecting back it was truly a "silence tool".

In my view, what is going on in Kenya is God's birth of a NEW KENYA. It is NOT (and I repeat NOT) about THE WINNER or THE LOSERS (Do NOT get me wrong - I don't mind about that). It is about laying a NEW FOUNDATION for Kenya that is built on TRUTH (RIGHTEOUSNESS) and JUSTICE, especially during this Jubilee period (50 years of our existence as a nation as we enter into the next 50 years - the next Jubilee).

>From now on, and as our national anthem aptly states, JUSTICE will truly be our SHIELD and DEFENDER.

Sustainable peace (not FALSE PEACE) is built on the foundations of TRUTH (righteousness) and JUSTICE.

Reflective Edith

Quote: I should like to be able to love my country and still love justice (Albert Camus)
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