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afrol News, 30 April - The proprietor of Citizen Radio and TV, Samuel Kamau Macharia, pitched his transmitters without authority of the Communication Commission of Kenya (CCK), the Kenyan parliament was told on 26 April 2001. In a 26 April ministerial statement, Information, Transport and Communication Minister Musalia Mudavadi also explained why the government seized equipment belonging to Royal Media Services on Wednesday 25 April. Mudavadi noted that on 2 February, CCK questioned the Directorate of Civil Aviation (DCA) about its authorisation of the mast's erection by Royal Media Services in Karen, Nairobi. According to Mudavadi, DCA confirmed that their authorisation was specific to the mast not being a hazard to air traffic. Karen is an area on the outskirts of Nairobi and planes landing in Jomo Kenyatta International Airport approach their landings from there. Authorisation is also subject to all other statutory requirements by other organisations being met to their satisfaction. No authority of the commission was sought before erecting the transmitter at Karen, contrary to section 36 of the Kenya Communications Act (1998), Mudavadi said. He stated that, via a 28 February letter, the DCA informed the CCK that Royal Media Services constructed the mast before receiving approval from the commission. Mudavadi explained that the government had to seize the equipment because of Royal Media Services' blatant breach of the law, continued interferences with other broadcast and communications facilities and exposure of Karen residents and tenants at Ambank House to dangerous radio emissions. The minister said that on 16 March, 17 and 24 April, CCK obtained warrants from the Chief Magistrate's Court to enter the premises of Royal Media Services both at Karen and Ambank House, in order to search and obtain the apparatus concerning the illegal transmitters. The entry and search at Ambank House was conducted by eight officers from CCK and the Central Police Station - Nairobi, he stated. After finding the illegal transmitting equipment, Mudavadi said, the officers seized it. But when they were about to leave, Macharia, in the company of a battery of aides, entered the offices and ordered that the steel meshed entrance be locked and the officers not to be allowed to leave. By that time, a number of Royal Media Services employees were camped at the door, baying for the blood of the police and commission staff, the minister said. Some of them were screaming loudly and uttering obscene words, he added. The minister noted that when the police and CCK staff realised that their lives were in danger, they called for reinforcement from the Central Police Station. Mudavadi said that had Macharia confined his transmitters to the authorised sites and complied with the commission's request to remove the illegal transmitters, CCK and the police would not have had a reason to enter his premises and size the illegal installations. Source: IFEX / Network for the Defence of Independent Media in Africa (NDIMA)
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