(AFMF/IFEX) – On 16 November 2005, The Kenyan government ordered FM radio station Kass FM to cease broadcasting for seven days after what the authorities described as “incitement to violence” by the station. The station closure came in the wake of fierce fights by two political groups for and against a new draft constitution which […]
(AFMF/IFEX) – On 16 November 2005, The Kenyan government ordered FM radio station Kass FM to cease broadcasting for seven days after what the authorities described as “incitement to violence” by the station.
The station closure came in the wake of fierce fights by two political groups for and against a new draft constitution which will be put to vote on Monday 21 November. Already several people have died in violent confrontation with the police during the campaign.
Leaders, especially those opposed to the new constitution, asserted that the closure was political and was aimed at giving proponents of the new constitution a head start in the run up to the 21 November poll.
The closure of the station triggered off fighting between members of two ethnic communities in the Rift Valley Province during which three people were seriously injured. The fighting was between supporters and opponent of the new draft constitution. One group accused the other of instigating the station’s closure.
The station broadcasts from the capital city, Nairobi, in Kalenjin language to listeners in Nandi North, in the Rift Valley Province.
Managers at the radio station were ordered by the government to surrender recordings of their programs for the last 21 days to the Communication Commission of Kenya (CCK).
Government spokesman Mr Alfred Mutua said that for the last three weeks, the station has been asking its listeners to engage in acts of violence, and the government would not allow people to preach violence.
The station’s managers have been summoned to a meeting with the CCK next Wednesday 23 November, when the regulator will ask why its frequencies should not be withdrawn altogether, according to a statement from the CCK.
