The Media Council of Kenya has condemned detectives’ decision to bar media from covering the Shakahola forest operation scene, where shocking exhumations of bodies are taking place.
In a statement via Twitter on Thursday, the media regulator demanded that journalists be allowed to work.
“LET THE MEDIA WORK: The @MediaCouncilK takes exception with the locking out of the media from the Shakahola forest operation scene, where several bodies have been discovered,” the council said.
“Denying the media access to report on such a matter of public interest will open the floodgates of misinformation, rumours and confusion to the whole country. It violates the principles of press freedom and the right to information.”
MCK noted that it is the media that drew the attention of the country to the sad happening for several weeks before any GoK intervention.
“We call for establishment of a media centre®ular press briefings on site to ensure media access &dissemination of accurate information to Kenyans,” the council added.
There was uproar on Wednesday when media was blocked from accessing the operation site where close to 100 bodies of a religious cult’s starvation by fasting victims were being unearthed by police in a Kilifi County village.
