NDIMA

(NDIMA/IFEX) – On 13 March 1998 newly appointed Information and Broadcasting Minister Joseph Nyagah accused an unnamed section of the Kenyan press of “taking advantage of the recently repealed law on sedition.” Describing it as “gutter press,” he characterized it as a “vicious campaign” aimed at undermining both national peace and presidential authority. He noted […]

(NDIMA/IFEX) – On 22 January 1998, the Ethiopian government issued a circular letter requiring journalists applying for an entry visa to have an application submitted to the embassy on their behalf by their employer 15 days before the intended visit. The letter added that the application must state the purpose of the visit, including the […]

(NDIMA/IFEX) – Almost two years after applying to the Non-Governmental Organisations Bureau (N-GOB) for registration as a non-governmental organisation (NGO), IFEX member NDIMA has been notified in a certificate signed by Bureau board chairman J.K. Etemesi that it has been refused registration. A letter dated 15 December 1997 advised NDIMA that it had sixty days […]

(NDIMA/IFEX) – On the night of 11 Wednesday 1998, Stephen Sunguti, a photographer working for the Nation Group of Newspapers and based in Eldoret town (about 300 kms from Nairobi), was brutally murdered. Uashin Gishu police chief Andrew Kimetto said that police on night patrol found Sunguti dead near a river with deep stab wounds […]

(NDIMA/IFEX) – Five South African journalists, Derek Rodney of the Johannesburg “Independent”, Patrick Wagner of “Getaway Magazine”, Anton Schecper, a cameraman for M-net and Getaway Explorer, Herman Portger, a South African aviation photographer, and Roland Geigr, were among the nine people who perished when their light aircraft crashed in the Ngong Hills just outside Nairobi. […]

(NDIMA/IFEX) – Berhanu Leyewe, managing deputy manager of the Ethiopian weekly newspapers “Keyete” and “Taime Fiqir”, is reported to have been arrested on 22 January 1998. His whereabouts are unknown. Further efforts to contact sources in Ethiopia have been fruitless. HASH(0x9baa744)

(NDIMA/IFEX) – Njehu Gatabaki, publisher of the Nairobi weekly magazine “Finance” who was abducted by security men on 4 December 1997, was on 5 December charged in a Nairobi court. Gatabaki, who is also the outgoing member of Parliament for Githunguri Constituency in Central Kenya, appeared before senior resident magistrate Lilian Bondi and denied three […]

(NDIMA/IFEX) – Njehu Gatabaki, publisher of the Nairobi weekly magazine “Finance”, was assaulted and abducted on 5 December 1997. A former member of Parliament, Gatabaki was kidnapped at his parent’s home in the Githunguri Kiambu district of central Kenya by people believed to be security men. The men showed up in six vehicles that did […]

**Updates IFEX alert of 20 Nroup, on 26 November 1997, police officers from both the local Surabaya and East Java regional forces banned the play “Marsinah Menggugat” (Marsinah Accuses) by Ratna Sarumpaet and the Satu Merah Panggung Theatre only three hours before the performance was due to begin. The play, dealing with the unresolved murder […]

(NDIMA/IFEX) – Eighteen Kenyan writers, all members of the International Pen Kenya Chapter, have endorsed the Network for the Defence of Independent Media in Africa’s (NDIMA) proposal for an urgent meeting to discuss persecution of writers, human rights campaigners and repression of freedom of expression in Nigeria. The 18 writers are; Dr G. J Wanjohi, […]

(NDIMA/IFEX) – On 19 November 1997, the Kenyan government withdrew charges of unlawful possession of firearms and ammunition, and promoting warlike activities against writer, human rights campaigner and presidential candidate in Kenya’s forthcoming general election, Koigi wa Wamwere. The same charges were also withdrawn against wa Wamwere’s lawyer, Mirugi Kariuki, and Njenga Mungai, the immediate […]

(NDIMA/IFEX) – The KES 10 million award (about US$ 185,000) given to presidential aide Joshua Kulei in a libel suit against the newspaper “The People” was set aside by the High Court sitting in Nairobi on 31 October 1997. Justice Emmanuel O’Kubasu, who gave the ruling, said the memorandum of appearance and the defence had […]

(NDIMA/IFEX) – On 26 October 1997, angry Muslim students attacked two journalists outside Garissa Teachers’ College, accusing them of bias in their reporting. More than twenty students armed with sticks, stones and clubs got hold of “East African Standard” reporter Ambura Olira and David Ochami of the “Kenya Times” outside the college gates and forced […]

(NDIMA/IFEX) – Two journalists of the independent Ugandan daily, “The Monitor” appeared in a Kampala court on Friday 24 October 1997, charged with publishing false information. Editor Charles Onyango – Obbo and reporter Andrew Mwenda were jointly charged over an article published in the paper’s edition of 21 September headlined: “Kabila paid Uganda in Gold, […]

(NDIMA/IFEX) – Joshua Kulei, a Nairobi businessman and aide to President Daniel arap Moi who has sued a Kenyan rural newspaper “The Times” for libel (See IFEX Alerts) published a notice on 26 October in the Sunday Nation warning two Nairobi newspapers that he might take legal action against them for causing to be published […]

(NDIMA/IFEX) – On 21 October 1997, people believed to be security officers bought virtually all copies of the current issue of “Finance” magazine. The vendors said the buyers asked them to produce all the copies they had, paid for them in cash and loaded them into waiting vehicles. A spot check indicated that newspaper vendors […]