Opposition leader Raila Odinga announced on Thursday, March 23, that his coalition had agreed to end the boycott of The Star following consultation with relevant stakeholders.
The Coalition, according to Odinga, will instead file a complaint with the Media Council of Kenya (MCK) to air their concerns about the alleged biases by the Radio Africa Group-owned entity.
“Following consultations with stakeholders, we have agreed to call off our boycott of The Star Newspaper. We have filed a complaint with the MCK on the paper’s biases,” Odinga announced in a press briefing at Capitol Hill, Nairobi.
Furthermore, Raila chastised the Communication Authority of Kenya (CA) for a letter written by its Director General, Ezra Chiloba, warning media houses not to broadcast certain scenes from the mass protests.
The move to limit media coverage of the mass protests, according to the Azimio Chief, was an attack on press freedom and an impediment to the media’s role in enhancing democracy.
In addition, Odinga described the action as an attempt to establish a dictatorial regime, claiming that the move to censure the press was intended to circumvent public checks and oversight.
The former prime minister vowed to stand in solidarity with the media outlets named in Chiloba’s letter in carrying out their mandate of informing the nation.
“Mr Ezra Chiloba the DG of CAK issued an illegal directive censoring the media and threatening sanctions for their truthful reporting on our demonstrations,” Odinga stated.
“With this action, Mr Ruto is opening the full dictator’s playbook to kill Kenya’s democracy. We in Azimio cannot allow Ruto to take us to the dark days of yesterday,” he added.
Odinga also announced that Azimio’s mass action protests will resume on Monday, March 27, and that the coalition will hold a “mother of all demonstrations” in Nairobi.
