(IPI/IFEX) – In a 13 June 2000 letter to President Daniel Arap Moi, IPI strongly condemned the attack on the headquarters of Kenya’s biggest newspaper, the “Daily Nation”. On 12 June, Kenyan students attempted to burn down the “Daily Nation” newspaper for publishing an article stating drug abuse was rife on the campus of Jomo […]
(IPI/IFEX) – In a 13 June 2000 letter to President Daniel Arap Moi, IPI strongly condemned the attack on the headquarters of Kenya’s biggest newspaper, the “Daily Nation”.
On 12 June, Kenyan students attempted to burn down the “Daily Nation” newspaper for publishing an article stating drug abuse was rife on the campus of Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology. After breaking ground floor windows of the Nation Media Group offices, students attempted to set fire to the building by throwing tires soaked in paraffin through the windows.
The students, who chanted “Nation must go”, were finally driven off by bank tellers of the Diamond Trust Bank, which shares the building with the Nation Media Group, and the belated arrival of riot police. A Reuters photographer was also attacked by students who mistook him for a staff member of the “Daily Nation”. Significantly, the police failed to arrive until nearly one hour after a member of the Nation Media Group had telephoned the police. The police station is 500 metres from the Nation headquarters.
After the incident, Wilfred Kiboro, group managing director of Nation Printers and Publishers Ltd., stated, “the behaviour and actions of the students are a cause of extreme sadness for me. The incident reflects a breakdown in law and order which is made more notable by the fact that it happened directly under the noses of the police force, who only reacted once the damage had been done.”
According to Kiboro, there has been no official response to the incident from the Kenyan government. However, the university administration accused the “Daily Nation” of “provoking the students”.
In IPI’s view, the attack on the offices of the “Daily Nation” represents an unwarranted assault on press freedom. Moreover, the attack appeared to have the tacit approval of both the Kenyan government and the university authorities.
Recommended Action
Send appeals to the president:
– calling on the government to do everything in its powers to apprehend the perpetrators of this attack, including the assault on the Reuters photographer, and to reprimand those police officers who failed to uphold the rule of law
– urging the minister of education to put into place programmes at the university which educate students on the importance of press freedom and emphasise other means of protesting against newspaper articles, in particular, the right of retraction and apology in circumstances where the factual content of the article is incorrect
– stating that in doing so the government will be reaffirming its commitment to Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights which states, “everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression, this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media regardless of frontiers”
Appeals To
President Daniel Arap Moi
Office of the President
Harambee House
P.O. Box 30510
Nairobi, Kenya
Fax: +254 2 336545
Please copy appeals to the source if possible.
