Media has perfected its role as watchdog

The Nation blew the whistle on how the National Security Ministry was about to pay nearly Sh400 million for a fleet of police cars that were never delivered, because the contract was cancelled two years ago. Was the government we have entrusted with administering our wealth actually going to throw away that kind of money? "No, we will not pay for that," said Finance minister David Mwiraria, according the Nation on Wednesday.

Following this story, the man at the top of the Security Ministry, Dr Chris Murungaru, came out fighting. The government would pay when the cars are finally delivered, Murungaru reportedly told the Nation. The contract with Hyundai Motors was never cancelled, he said. But the media pointed to contrary evidence available at the Treasury and the Attorney General’s office.

Right to know

It is the story of contradictory policy in the same government. The bottom line is that the country’s wealth may be in shaky hands. And the people, the owners of the wealth, have a right to know.

This story comes after a series of similar exposes. The government is still reeling form the Sh4 billion Anglo-Leasing scandal, where this staggering amount was alleged to finance a new passports project and the construction of new forensic laboratories. That whistle may have been blown by a patriotic MP, but when the media subsequently took up the story with gusto, digging into embarrassing government files and letting the dogs loose on the alleged perpetrators, feathers were truly ruffled. People got fired. And the people’s wealth was saved from unscrupulous squanderers.

Again, when the East African Standard recently did the story of how parliamentary debates were won or lost after money lined MPs’ pockets, the country again stood up to take notice. And justice may have been served.

Change

Earlier on, when the media serialised our ministers hitting the road in top luxury cars and traced where some of our GK cars are packed after office hours – sometimes at pubs and other times along the twilight zone frequented by prostitutes – the ensuing outrage effected positive change. The Finance Minister slapped a ban on buying of more government cars this financial year.

The only change the country is still waiting for in this line of media exposes is at the head of the civil service, where Ambassador Francis Muthaura is said to have bestowed upon himself the powers of a non-existent Prime Minister and usurped the job of State House comptroller. The Standard had repeatedly hammered at this story.

In Local Government, our broadcast media has consistently brought to the notice of Kenyans the one thing that features in practically every council election – bare-knuckle fistfights and shameless, barbaric spectacles. Apart from mocking the figure cut by gentlemen in designer suits and unmasking the false faÁade of supposedly educated and civilised leaders, the pictures have made Kenyans ask whether they shouldn’t be electing mayors and councillors directly through the ballot.

Away from state government, the Nation’s August 15, 2004, story of how the National Social Security Fund was tottering on the verge of collapse under a staggering Sh14 billion deficit was yet another expose. Again, this was the story of how public officials were mismanaging public funds and pissing on the people’s trust. All this time, the media has not failed to underline the chaotic leadership that characterises the Kibaki presidency.

The sum total is that our media can proudly claim to have perfected its watchdog task – the role of the Press as activist, reformer and exposure. The media has appreciated a basic principle in this business, namely that journalism must serve as an independent monitor of power; that journalism must watch over the powerful few in society on behalf of the powerless many to guard against tyranny.

Due to this, it is not an exaggeration to say that the media has in the past decade singularly contributed the most in opening up democratic space in this country. There can be no going back. Days of blatant Press gagging cannot come back without the risk of losing all the democratic gains.

Promised land

There are just a few more holes to plug and we could soon be on the Promised Land of Press freedom, with its accompanying fledging democracy and prosperity.

One, this country ought to take journalism as an honourable and indispensable profession, and train its sons and daughters accordingly. Two, the greatest contribution our lawmakers could do is to enact enabling, not stifling, media laws.

In a country where politics is still treated as more newsworthy than the imminent collapse of a locally owned international airline (remember the recent woes of the East African Airlines), journalism risks being dismissed as tawdry.

 Kodi Barth teaches journalism at United States International University-Nairobi.
If you have seen questionable content in the press, write to kodi@kodibarth.com
Website: www.kodibarth.com/

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