mr president i regret the signing of the kenya communications amendment bill by president kibaki
this act disregards the rights to freedom of expression and press freedom as enshrined in the universal declaration of human rights and echoed by other international conventions including the african charter on human and peoples rights
this act would give considerable powers to the kenyan information minister to raid media houses deemed to be a threat to national security and to dismantle broadcasting equipment
the act will also give the state the power to regulate contents to be aired and published by electronic and print media respectively
i welcome however president kibaki's recent move to revise this media law and his gesture to consider amendments to legislation proposed by members of the media
freedom of expression is a fundamental human right as stated in article nineteen of the universal declaration of human rights
i call on the kenyan government to initiate a stakeholder consultation in order to build consensus on how to better regulate the communications industry without interfering with press freedom and without infringing rights contained within the universal declaration
finally i would like to underline the need to adjust the culture of impunity in kenya in order to bring those responsible for the post-election violence a year ago to justice
i call for the setting-up of an independent commission consisting of local and international legal experts who would carry out investigations and prosecutions into the violent events following the flawed elections in december two thousand and seven
