Former PM Raila Odinga says rushed digital migration anti-people, urges reconsideration

BY ABIGAEL SUM

NAIROBI, KENYA: Former Prime Minister Raila Odinga has criticized the manner in which the migration from analogue television broadcasting to digital is being done saying reason has failed to prevail.

“The concerns of key media houses, the very institutions that offer broadcast services, analogue or digital, have been dismissed. Kenyans are set to celebrate Christmas and possibly New Year in total information darkness, unaware of what is going on not only across the world but also within their own country. This is because reason failed to prevail in the saga of digital migration,” said Raila.

He accused the Jubilee Government of intending to take the country back to the era of information darkness with KBC being the only source of TV news.

“It is a new low, in an emerging dangerous and worrying trend of take it or leave it that is becoming the mode of operation of the Jubilee government. The whole issue of digital migration is suspect. There is an unexplained hurry to proceed with it even after media houses asked for more time,” he said.

He termed the move as anti-people, anti-business adding that it smacks of favouritism and corruption.

“The government ought to go out of its way to ensure that citizens’ access information from diverse sources at all times. The current action goes against that principle. It goes against the Constitution. It ought to be reversed if the intention is to serve Kenyans,” he noted.

He added: “At stake is not just whether the media houses suffer losses or not. It is the fact that the right to information by the people of Kenya is being disregarded at a very critical period in the history of our country.”

Raila questioned the issuance of the digital distribution license to Signet, a subsidiary of the public broadcaster, Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC) which was licensed in 2009 and the Pan-Africa Network Group (Kenya) Co. Ltd licensed in 2011.

“Why only KBC and one Chinese company were cleared to distribute digital signal needs to be explained. There is also need to appraise the country on whether these institutions have been up to speed in the task,” he said.

The former Premier also termed the publicity by the Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK) on digital migration as wanting noting that many Kenyans are not aware of what the migration is all about, why it is necessary and what they need to do.

He reiterated that the Cost of the migration infrastructure and its availability especially in rural areas has not been met.

“Kenyans have not acquired the top boxes they are supposed to have in readiness for migration. The equipment is both unavailable and unaffordable. There are not many Kenyans, especially in rural areas, who will afford the monthly fees of Sh500 to be able to watch TV. The government must be aware that millions of Kenyans across the country live from hand to mouth and cannot afford to pay for information,” he said.

He pointed out that millions of Kenyans are going to be in the information darkness for a prolonged period come March 30, 2014, when migration moves to eight other towns, including Nyeri, Kisumu, Mombasa, Eldoret and eventually to the whole country come June 2014.

The High Court dismissed a petition by the three major media houses-the Standard Group, Nation Media Group and Royal Media Services to have the digital migration postponed until certain critical issues spelt out in the petition are resolved.

Following the ruling the KTN, NTV and Citizen TV have gone off-air while other avenues to resolve the issues are being pursued.

“Kenyans appear to be getting punished so that a few businesses and individuals in and out of government can prosper. Information aside, thousands of Kenyans are going to lose jobs because some of the broadcast stations may have to shut down for some time while others downsize operations and staff substantially. All these scenarios are unacceptable and unnecessary,” said Raila.