Editors Guild slams Senator Cheruiyot for labelling media a cartel
The Kenya Editors Guild (KEG) has condemned the utterances made by Kericho Senator Aaron Cheruiyot who referred to the media as a cartel.
Senator Cheruiyot, who is also the Senate Majority Leader, made the remarks on Monday in a statement on his Twitter handle.
“President Ruto will succeed in crushing every cartel in the country save for two that are extremely powerful, banks and media. Both are very powerful, influential and synergise so well to protect each other’s interest. For public good, a way must be found,” the senator tweeted.
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In a statement on Monday, the Kenya Editors Guild president Churchill Otieno said Cheruiyot’s utterances are an open threat to the media and a direct affront to media freedom while expressing alarm over his reckless and worrying post.
Mr Otieno said the senator’s remarks is a telling sign that President Ruto’s government is keen on muzzling the media, which he said is a key pillar of Kenya’s democracy and a catalyst of democratic discourse.
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“It is dumbfounding that the Senator sees the media as a cartel rather than a catalyst of Kenya’s democratic discourse without which, many politicians of his ilk would never have emerged to become anything worth quoting. If we are to take his comment seriously, the Senator is saying that the President is keen to crush the media. We hope he is wrong and that President Ruto and his government have no such designs,” said Otieno.
He called upon the senator to approach the Media Complaints Commission should he have any competent claim against the media and urged him to cease and desist from undermining Kenya’s democracy by choosing “the rule of the jungle” over “the rule of law”.
“All national leaders have a duty to promote rule of law and it is very concerning when a key leader in Parliament chooses the rule of the jungle on any matter,” Mr Otieno said.
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