PAN Condemns Suspension of Denis Galava

PEN Africa Network (PAN), the umbrella body of African Centres of PEN International, has learnt with shock and dismay the suspension of Denis Galava, the Managing Editor (Special Projects) of Kenya’s Nation Media Group (NMG) owned by the Aga Khan, over an editorial he wrote in the Saturday Nation newspaper.

In an editorial published in the January 2, 2016 edition of the newspaper, titled “Mr President, get your act together this year”, the paper criticised President Uhuru Kenyatta and his government’s administration, highlighting issues about poor leadership which has led to political patronage, unemployment, corruption, bureaucratic incompetence, and economic paralysis.

Following the editorial, the management of NMG has suspended Galava. This, according to the Editor in Chief of NMG, Tom Mshindi, was due to “the lack of consultation where one writer takes a strong position on such an important issue single-handedly, without broad discussion and consultation”, and describing Galava’s action as “a significant departure from established procedure”.

PAN in no uncertain terms condemns this attitude of the management of the Nation Media Group, as we consider the action taken against Galava as an attempt by the management to suppress the independence and freedom of the media, critical and independent voices, and free expression.

We wish to emphasise that journalists working in either state-owned or private-owned media are not an extension of government propaganda machinery, and therefore the action of the NMG amounts to total surrender of the NMG’s independence, and a show of its bias in favour of the ruling government, which does great harm to Kenya’s democracy.

PAN therefore calls for the immediate reinstatement of Denis Galava to his position.

Africa has had enough of the dictatorial rule of the 1970s and 1980s where majority of countries on the African continent were hijacked by military usurpers and autocrats who killed press freedom and freedom of expression. The NMG management must therefore stop behaving as if the media organisation is a propaganda wing of the gov-ernment by suppressing critical voices such as Denis Galava.

As the continent strives towards democratic governance, we urge all African countries and their leaders to stop the molestation and intimidation of journalists who voice the concerns of the majority of the citizens.

We also request media organisations, both state-owned and private-owned and their executives to stop mortgaging the independence of the media to government by turning their media organisations into government propaganda outlets thereby punishing independent journalists unnecessarily for merely practising professionally.

This is the editorial which led to Galava’s suspension.

Dr Frankie Asare-Donkoh Secretary-General,
PEN Africa Network (PAN)

(Image courtesy of Wikipedia)