LSK filed against Govt decision to ban 3 National Newspapers ads

The Law Society of Kenya (LSK) has filed a complaint against the decision of the Kenya Kwanza govt not to run advertisements in three national newspapers. LSK has filed a judicial challenge to the court against the Kwanza government.

However, It came after the Kenya Kwanza government urged state agencies not to advertise in newspapers. Hence, some people consider this move as an attempt to monopolize information.

The Law Society of Kenya (LSK) has moved to court to challenge the government’s decision not to run its adverts in three national newspapers.https://t.co/826AlpTUV0 pic.twitter.com/xkKyIjf8cf
— KTN News (@KTNNewsKE) February 17, 2024

Kenya Kwanza has rejected contracts with three National Newspapers of Kenya under the section of My. Govt pull-out. The newspapers include The Standard Group PLC (SG), Nation Media Group (NMG), and People Daily.

However, the My. Govt pull-out contract in Kenya refers to a specific arrangement. According to this, the Kenyan government contracts an organization to produce a pull-out section within the My Gov newspaper.

This pull-out section typically contains various information, such as tenders, government communications, and ministry stories. As well as agency updates, job vacancies, agricultural news, innovation highlights, and top stories from different countries.

Instead, the Kenya Kwanza government has contracted with The Star newspaper under a deal given to Convergence Africa Media Limited. Following that, LSK filed against the decision of govt to contract with The Star.

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According to a new contract deal, the Kenyan government has banned all three national newspapers from publishing advertisements regarding government information.

In court, the LSK, led by Eric Theuri, claimed that the problem with The Star is that it only read in Nairobi, the capital city of Kenya. He also stated that the Kenya Kwanza government is not only denying Kenyans access to critical information on jobs and government contracts. But it also restricts their participation in decisions that require analysis and contributions.

LSK lawyer Peter Wanjiku said the new restrictions now imposed on publication, printing, and consumers of government information who reside outside Nairobi have the real risk of missing out on critical information published under section My. Govt pull-out.