(NDIMA/IFEX) – According to NDIMA, on 13 July 1998, Star Publishers Limited went to the High Court seeking to quash the Registrar-General’s recent decision rejecting the registration of the bi-weekly newspaper “The Star.” They also want the registrar and the commissioner of police to be prohibited from interfering with or stopping the printing, publication and […]
(NDIMA/IFEX) – According to NDIMA, on 13 July 1998, Star Publishers Limited
went to the High Court seeking to quash the Registrar-General’s recent
decision rejecting the registration of the bi-weekly newspaper “The Star.”
They also want the registrar and the commissioner of police to be prohibited
from interfering with or stopping the printing, publication and distribution
of “The Star.” On 14 July 1998, police confiscated some copies of the
newspaper and NDIMA was also informed that they were looking for the editor,
Mr. Magayu K. Magayu.
**Updates IFEX alerts of 15 and 14 July 1998**
Lawyer James Orengo brought the application under a certificate of urgency.
“The staff working for the newspaper are in danger of losing jobs if the
matter is not determined expeditiously”, Mr Orengo argued.
Registrar-General Omondo Mbago announced the clampdown on the bi-weekly last
Friday, 10 July 1998, along with “Finance” magazine and the “Post on
Sunday” – effectively banning them from the streets. The fourth publication,
“Kenya Confidential”, was declared to be operating illegally because it had
not applied for registration. But in a rejoinder the editor, Mr. Blamuel
Njururi, denied that the proprietor of the newsletter had not applied for
registration. He said he wrote to the Registrar-General on 6 November 1997
but never received a reply.
The publishers’ application is based on the statutory statement and the
verifying affidavit of Mr. Obadiah Muchori Gathingi, who maintains that
there is no procedure or requirement in law for an application to be made to
the Registrar of Books and Newspaper for the registration of newspapers. He
says that since last October, the company had regularly printed and
published “The Star” and had complied with all the requirements of the law.
On 13 July 1998, The managing director of Star Publishers Limited and “The
Star” editor were charged in a Kibera court with publishing an alarming
publication. Mr. Magayu was locked up at Kasarani police station in Nairobi
on 8 July 1998. He was released on 10 July 1998, but was immediately
rearrested and spent the weekend in custody.
The managing director, Mr. Francis Mathenge Wanderi, and the
editor-in-chief, Mr. Magayu Kiarie Magayu, denied the charge before
Principal Magistrate Jane Ondieki.
They were released on Sh 20,000 bond (approximately US$3,000) with a surety
of similar amount. The case will be heard on 27 July 1998.
