[kictanet] [mediaeditors] Role of the Media in Kenyan Elections

Tue Mar 12 08:23:30 EAT 2013

Walu,

You are calm probably because you are noble & decent enough not to engage
in and spread hate speech :)
On Mar 11, 2013 8:02 PM, "Walubengo J" <jwalu at yahoo.com> wrote:

> @Makali and Edith,
>
> You guys are speaking with too much conviction or frustration - depending
> on who is analysing.
>
> Like I said earlier, my candidate lost and am ready to move on with the
> new President Elect - unless the Supreme court advises otherwise.  If my
> candidate had won (remember Mwalimu Dida? :-), I would have indulged the
> other Kenyans to accept him  as well and we move this country to the next
> level.  So I dont quite see the Media "Conspiracy"  here if they are
> preaching this same principal.
>
> That said, ofcourse, celebrations were quite muted (including on this
> list).  But that is no surprise given that half the voters did not vote for
> the winner and you cant force them to be jumping up and about.  At the same
> time, there was sufficient celebrations in the other half of the voters.
>
> In short, I want to believe, unless otherwise proved, that the media was
> simply pre-empting chaos irrespective of who would have won.
>
> walu.
>
>
>   ------------------------------
> *From:* David Makali <dmakali at yahoo.com>
> *To:* jwalu at yahoo.com
> *Cc:* KICTAnet - Media Editors Forum <mediaeditors at lists.kictanet.or.ke>;
> KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke>
> *Sent:* Monday, March 11, 2013 5:17 PM
> *Subject:* Re: [mediaeditors] [kictanet] Role of the Media in Kenyan
> Elections
>
> I disagree:
> This boils down to the role of the media in a democratic society. Is it to
> abet the erosion of rights or to promote transparency and the expression of
> the popular will of the people? i see people on this forum trying to tweak
> the responsbiility of the media to their selfish interests - peace,
> investment and other pr concerns. those whose rights have been trampled by
> a fraudulent election are portrayed as a distraction in the grinding mill
> of our oh-so-good democracy and pretended peace. their protests are being
> pooh-poohed as anti-peace. i would rather not be part of this peace and
> tranquility bandwagon and stare the hard facts in the face. i would rather
> opt for the painful truth and justice path. it is the route to long lasting
> peace and democracy. it is the rationalisation of injustice and wrongdoing
> that breeds dictatorship and oppression. we must decline the popular
> excuses at every election that we are young and maturing, that in the
> interest of peace, we gloss over our failures and move on. this time, let
> us get it right. there should be no violence, but neither should threats of
> incitement be used against those who pursue their rights or the truth.
> the media has an obligation not just to give voice to those who are
> aggrieved but to go out on a limb to establish the veracity of their
> grievances. they cannot abdicate that responsibility as they have so far
> done on the pretext of keeping the peace. a sleeping press is not good even
> for peace. no.
>
>
>
> - makali
>
>
>
>
> _______________
>
> "If my doctor told me I had only six minutes to live,
> I wouldn't brood. I'd type a little faster."
> — Isaac Asimo, Columbian Author and Scientist
> _______________
>
>
> PO Box 3234
> 00200 Nairobi, Kenya
> cell: +254 722 517 540
>   ------------------------------
> *From:* Edith Adera <eadera at idrc.ca>
> *To:* dmakali at yahoo.com
> *Cc:* KICTAnet - Media Editors Forum <mediaeditors at lists.kictanet.or.ke>;
> KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions <kictanet at lists.kictanet.or.ke>
> *Sent:* Monday, March 11, 2013 4:51 PM
> *Subject:* Re: [mediaeditors] [kictanet] Role of the Media in Kenyan
> Elections
>
>   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> 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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>      Eric M.K Osiakwan
>  +233244386792
>
>
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> The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform
> for people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and
> regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT
> sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development.
>
> KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors
> online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth,
> share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do
> not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications.
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