Daily Nation parliamentary editor John Ngirachu was today arrested by CID officers at Parliament over a story he wrote last week on questionable spending of nearly Ksh4 billion in a day by the ministry of Interior ministry and coordination of National Government.
The writer is accused of publishing privileged information. In the story, carried in the Daily Nation of November 4th 2015, the Mr Ngirachu reported that the Auditor General had questioned how a government ministry spent Ksh3.8 billion in one day. The expenditure by the ministry of Interior and Coordination of National Government, is related to the purchase of arms, insurance for the police, vehicles and repair of helicopters.
Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph Nkaissery is understood to have instructed the police to hold Ngirachu until he reveals the source of the information, which goes again the cardinal principle of journalism that protects news sources.
Given that the article was based on credible documents, and the story has public interest, media analysts say the minister has crossed the line of media freedom. Dictatorial governments use such arrests to intimidate and arm-twist journalists and media houses into submission.
“It is another sad day for the media industry following continued assault on journalists and violation of the Constitution by the Jubilee administration. Kenyans passed the new Constitution in 2010 that heralded an era of transparency under Article 35 that guarantees them right to access any information that is held by the state,” said KUJ Secretary General Eric Odour.
The money in question, according to the story, was paid to local and foreign firms and mostly through local banks such as Kenya Commercial and National Bank of Kenya.
The Constitution gives journalists freedom to discharge their duties without interference from the state. The Jubilee administration has tried in vain to reintroduce criminal libel law in Kenya over the past two years it has been in power and it has now opted to explore unorthodox means to clampdown on the media, says KUJ.
The Kenya Union of Journalists demanded the unconditional release of Mr Ngirachu. “Forcing journalists to reveal their news sources cannot be entertained in a democratic country like Kenya,” said Mr Oduor. All journalists stand in solidarity with John Ngirachu, and KUJ will next week mobilize journalists all over the country and the world through the International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) to condemn continued harassment of journalists by Jubilee administration.”
The firms according to the story, include include: Agusta Westlands (Sh683 million), ISPRA/ISRAEL Product Research Co. (Sh271.9 million), Ecta (Sh31.2 million), Toyota Kenya Ltd (Sh56.1 million), D.T. Dobie (Sh59.4 million), Israel Weapon Industries (Sh68.2 million and Sh26.7 million), Lom Praha Trade (Sh370.4 million), Jino Motors Co. Ltd (Sh86.6 million), Polytechnologies Inc. (Sh38.9 million and Sh164.1 million), Silver Shadow Advanced Security Systems (Sh17.2 million), China North Industries Corporation (Sh101.4 million), Pioneer Assurance (Sh1.6 billion) and Steyr Mannlicher (Deftech Ltd) (Sh245.6 million).
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The expenses were incurred in the 2014/2015 financial year and the Auditor-General appealed to the Principal Secretary in the ministry to intervene and have the necessary documents provided for audit. Curiously, all the payments were made on June 30, 2015.
“Initial observations have revealed that these vouchers were not adequately supported as required under Section 5.5.13 and 5.5.14 of the Government Financial Regulations and Procedures,” the Auditor-General said in a letter signed by S.K. Chibole. “The audit is incomplete due to lack of tender documents and other records that we requested in the above mentioned letter,” said Chibole.
Mr Nkaissery blamed Parliament for releasing confidential information to the media, saying it exposed the government’s security capacity and capabilities. Mr Nkaissery said his team presented the information to the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the National Assembly in camera as provided for in law. “The discussion between my team and the PAC took place in a privileged environment and information provided on (a) need-to-know basis,” he said.
How the government handeles the case will give a clear direction of how its elationship with the media will be shaped going forward.
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