Kenya’s communications regulator warns media houses as protests continue on Thursday

Kenya’s ICT regulator, the Communications Authority (CA), has warned media houses from broadcasting information that breaks the country’s communications laws, as protests asking for Ruto’s resignation continue on Thursday. 

“All media houses are hereby cautioned that dissemination of content that runs afoul to the Constitution; the Kenya Information and Communications Act, 1998; the Programming Code for Broadcasting Services as well as the Preservation of the Public Security Act, 2012 is unlawful and will result in enforcement action,” the regulator wrote in a memo to media houses.

It’s unclear if that warning has caused leading TV stations, including Citizen and K24, to cover Thursday’s protests scantily. Unlike previous protests, leading media houses are not live-streaming Thursday’s demonstrations at the time of this report. 

Tuesday’s protests started on muted tones but turned violent in the afternoon, resulting in one death and multiple injuries, including a local journalist shot while covering the demonstrations in Nakuru. 

The country-wide demonstrations have become a norm on Tuesdays and Thursdays over the past four weeks as Kenyans call for the resignation of President William Ruto even after he cut the budget and promised austerity measures, fired his cabinet, and dismissed the controversial 2024 Finance Bill. 

Thursday’s demonstrations are also likely to be impeded after the National Police Service (NPS) warned protesters against accessing Nairobi’s central business district, the epicentre of the march, citing security concerns and property destruction. 

On Wednesday, Douglas Kanja, the interim inspector general, said the NPS has “credible intelligence that organised criminal groups are planning to take advantage of the ongoing protests to execute their attacks including looting.”

Some Kenyans have expressed dissatisfaction with the statement, arguing that the NPS cannot permit or deny demonstrations. They have also blamed the police for using excessive force in arrests and abductions, with tens of people still reported missing. 

Beating the cold July weather, the protesters have assembled at Uhuru Park, a recreation centre in Nairobi. They will then march to State House, a protected area from unauthorised entry per Kenya’s Protected Areas Act.