Human Trafficking….

OPINION: Human Trafficking….

21^st Century Slaves-the silent epidemic...

Our Story-our Challenge

By Maggi Kennedy MSOLA

Your Eminencies, My Lords, Reverend Fathers, Religious Sisters and Brothers all the members of the Lavigerie family represented here today and all those in Africa and the rest of our globalised world who we serve as the sons and daughters of Cardinal Lavigerie and Mother Marie Salome, good evening.

Today marks a momentous moment in our history as a Church. 125 years ago Cardinal Charles Martial Lavigerie, Archbishop of Algiers - at the request of Pope Leo XIII - began the Catholic Church’s involvement in the movement for the abolition of the Slave Trade, together with other pioneers like William Wilberforce, with their focus on Africa.

On December 23^rd, 1888, Lavigerie said:

 “Slavery, as it is practiced in Africa, is not only, indeed, contrary to the Gospel, it is contrary to natural law…it involves all humanity. That is why I am appealing to everyone, without distinction of nationality, party or religious creed. I do not address myself simply to faith, but to reason, to justice, to respect, to love of liberty”.

That same evening he spoke to the hearts of his Congregation then as he does today. His challenge from the past is not new…..for today…..

But he went even further…..

“I am a man, and nothing human is foreign to me. I am a man, and injustice towards others revolts my heart. I am a man, and oppression offends my nature…. I want to restore to the sons and daughters of this unhappy race, family, honour and freedom”

 Such a great desire…….

« I am a man and nothing human is foreign to me. » became the Cardinal’s motto as he raised awareness in many European cities as to the various kinds of slavery…which was and is a crime against humanity.

         Near to his own death he sadly said “Few people, too few people have the ultimate vocation: humanity”. This is our challenge today with the Cardinal’s spirit in our blood we are called to follow him. Who will speak if we don’t…as a Church today?

          Trafficking in persons…..Human trafficking, the New Slavery…Are these just jargon words! The Old Slavery was banned in France 1794 and was re-introduced and banned a second time. In the UK it was banned in 1807. Slavery was banned worldwide 1926. In Mauritania in North Africa it was finally banned in 1981. In many countries it continues to grow in ever new forms.

Does Human Trafficking really exist

Yes, but it takes many different forms. It touches families like yours and mine, ordinary people and families who are drawn into a deep dark pit of hopelessness, often through poverty, money, greed and sometimes adventure and power.

          I became involved in this struggle in 2010 on my return to Kenya. An Assumption Sister of Nairobi shared with me how her two nieces applied for jobs have seen an advert in the newspaper. It offered a good salary and many perks. They called the agency. They were asked to go for an interview.  They were very excited and prepared themselves. They left the house happy together, with their parents as excited as they were….They left….never to be seen again alive...

Where are they now? We cannot image the trauma for their families not knowing where they are and what has happened to them…no funeral…no laying to rest, no grieving. What of the other families???? This could be you or me or members of our families or friends.

          Human Trafficking is the world’s best money earner after drugs and small arms. It is estimated by US Government’s yearly report TIP that in 2011 32 billion US Dollars was made out of the innocent blood of 800,000 human persons who were trafficked within or across international boundaries half of whom were children  It is estimated that 12.3 million adults and children are currently held in modern day slavery which includes forced labour and prostitution. There are many more who are trafficked within there own national boundaries for forced labour, bonded labour, sexual servitude and involuntary servitude. It seems almost impossible to curb this epidemic. The appalling treatment and living conditions are unimaginable.. Driven by poverty it touches all levels of society manifests the insatiable greed of unscrupulous people. It may never be stopped completely. But that is no reason to do nothing.

How are we involved?

Human trafficking contaminates us all and is in need of a radical conversion. Fides states, “400 million children around the world live in conditions of slavery”. Many children together with young women and young boys produce products, which are sold in Europe and the rest of the West “indirectly this slavery becomes part of our lives, the carpets we walk on and the T-shirts we wear.”

          The World Day against Child Slavery was first marked on the 16^th April 1995 when a 12-year-old Pakistani Christian boy - Igbo Mash - was killed by his country’s mafia. He had been a slave in the textile industry since he was four. At ten, he escaped and denounced what was happening to the USA and the European Union. He paid the ultimate price. Brazil, Myanmar, Sierra Leone, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Benin, Egypt and Ivory Coast with their textiles, minerals and chocolate flourish with child slave labour. At last the BBC in June 2012 denounced the cocoa trade in Ivory Coast on its programme “Network Africa.” “Children are easier to control than adults people say” These children are used and abused for our comfort.

          Our whole way of life and ways of relating are being challenged. Human Trafficking is around us and in us…that insistent silent scream….the voices of persons not able to defend themselves. Can we hear this cry this evening here in the Gesù?  Where  Cardinal Lavrigerie spoke 125 years ago. Can we bear to hear and feel this pain...Remember that during the 80’s alone, more women and children were enslaved by trafficking from Asia that all the people sold into slavery from Africa in 400 years of the Slave trade. We, as a Church need to be involved … where and when it happens. In Europe much is being done but Africa needs help and justice in order to be able to provide a stable economy where all can benefit.

          Lavigerie used every possible resource to eradicate slavery and to alert people to the horrendous situation. We need his human touch to relate as Jesus did…relating human being to human being as truly brothers and sisters- the God-given gift of human life. The Cardinal called the journalists of his day. He challenged…everything and every person. If he could do that in his limited world, surely we can do something in our globalised world with its entire media network. Pope Leo XIII - a visionary concerned for human rights - had found the right man for the job he wanted done.

          While Europe challenged slavery in Africa the Missionaries of Africa, the Comboni Missionaries and the Spiritans together with the Society for the Africa Missions faced the front line of its reality and bought and freed slaves, founded villages to allow them to lead a human life.

          Already in 1939,Sr Marie Andre de Sacre Coeur MSOLA spoke  to the House of Deputies in Paris concerning the plight of African women and their difficulties as women especially matters concerning early marriages and for sure some of them were being trafficked. In 1983 Sr Lea Ackermann began her work in Mombasa in Kenya bringing to birth SOLWODI (Solidarity for Women in Distress). She is now based in Germany but has 6 offices in Kenya and continues the work she began. In Germany, together with more than a hundred collaborators, she continues her work, as does Sr Eugenia Bonetti in Italy. Other groups, particularly of Religious, work in Nigeria, Kenya, Holland, the UK, the USA, the Philippines and more. We need more men to work in this area. In 2003, the UISG (International Union of Superior Generals) was asked to take up this issue only women religious responded to this call it is as if Human Trafficking were a women’s problem. A good percentage of men are also trafficked

          Human trafficking has become a never ending task and we need Prevention, Protection, Prosecution and Policies to put in place a holistic approach without there will be no progress in this process. In Ghana, Sr Connie Gemme and Sr Jacqueline Picard MSOLA have been involved in empowerment and prevention of Human Trafficking as well as Victim Support giving new life in a once horrific situation. Many others in Africa have also taken it as a priority  the Missionaries of Africa in South Africa with Fr Sean O’Leary, in Malawi with Fr Bill Turnbull and Fr Jos Cuppens at the Centre of Social Concern. Fr Anselm in Gao Mali. In the Nairobi slums, Sr Mary O’ Malley MMM and Radek Malinowski have unceasingly been creating awareness against human trafficking acting with HAART, a small NGO.

          Bishop Martin Kivuva of Machakos, near Nairobi, is supporting a project which involves the Small Christian Communities in awareness, victim support, focussing on the most vulnerable, together with developing programmes which will eventually raise the standard of living and provide appropriate sustainability. I work with the Awareness Against Human Trafficking Collaboration, which partners this project and has benefited from the Missionaries of Africa and Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of Africa. Mombasa’s Archbishop Boniface Lele declared the need do more with Solwodi for vulnerable women and children.

What is human trafficking?

A simple answer would be the trading of women, men and children for the purposes of exploitation. The two factors are crucial in the definition of human trafficking ARE: movement and exploitation. There must be recruitment taking place hence there is transportation. There is a transfer from one place to another and harbouring of the person or persons and there is money paid.

The Palermo Protocol (art 3) provides a global definition when it states that “Trafficking in Persons shall mean the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion, of abduction, of fraud, of deception, of the abuse of power or of a position of vulnerability or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation. Exploitation shall include, at a minimum, the exploitation of the prostitution of others or other forms of servitude or the removal of organs.”

          The Palermo Protocol definition is long and complicated, and makes us realise how complex the issue is. 185 countries have signed up to this agreement, yet the trafficking still goes on!

When did the term “human trafficking” first appear?

In the 19^th and 20^th century, when slavery and the slave trade still existed, but were declining, the term “human trafficking” appeared. Initially, it referred to the illegal trade of white women for sex. First international law that tackled the issue of human trafficking was the International Agreement for the Suppression of the White Slave Trade of 1904, popularly called as a White Slave Convention

The end of Cold War saw capitalism as the main dominating socio-economic model

As the tension between the West and the East lessened–barriers were opened between countries. Some states were weak and poor. The technical revolution gave access to untold possibilities of information. Cultural changes accelerated. Economies and societies have become intermingled. Trade as opposed to development has led to the rapidly increasing gap between the rich and the poor.

Kenya in the front line

Kenya, where I work, is a source, transit and destination country for human trafficking... The situation is horrendous and a silent epidemic is rising especially in Nairobi and Mombasa which is a real “hot” spot because of the tourist industry.

How are people trafficked?

It happens easily and sometimes we are too gullible and sucked in without realizing and not questioning the offers they receive. We can all be blind. But once hooked

victims may be threatened and force may be used. All forms of coercion including fraud, deception, abduction abuse of power, abuse of authority, financial incentives are easy methods of manipulation. At the initial stages victims often co-operate.

Human Trafficking has many faces. The exploitation of the prostitution of others is a common way together with forced labour and services. Slavery or other practices akin to slavery are also be used. At the UN it was stated also that often a woman is “not treated as a human person on an equal basis with others but as an object to be exploited”. Housemaids and Houseboys are also very vulnerable to sexual abuse. The removal of body parts is also common in some areas especially for witchcraft.

Children are more naturally trusting and therefore more vulnerable than adults, they provide cheap labour. This is why child labour and child trafficking are closely linked. Adults often move voluntarily but children do not migrate on their own. A child can never consent to a trafficking situation as minor.

Why is the Human Trafficking such a lucrative business?

The supply and demand of women, men and children is constant and the costs are very low. There is little legal framework against human trafficking in general and what there is weak. Many countries like South Africa and Mozambique have no legislation. In October 2010 Kenya enacted the “Trafficking in Persons Act” which brought together a number of important Acts including the Sexual Offences Act 2006. In June 2012 it was found that the Act had not been properly enacted so the process is beginning again.

          Lobbying is called for but there is little direction. It is something we are working on how can we otherwise prevent and prosecute offenders! There is also great deal of debate concerning whether prostitution should be legalized or not. The organizers and agencies of human trafficking are rarely targeted. They are hidden and powerful, having many international connections.

Are there special variants in Africa?

Many factors in human trafficking are common worldwide but there are also factors only found in Africa. Prostitution and sexual exploitation and organ trafficking are common worldwide. Generally, when people are trafficked in Africa, brute force would not be used to exploit the trafficked person. The abuse would be more through threats, intimidation, separation from families and the local environment.

Forced Labour what is it?

This is very common and includes cattle herding, working in the fisheries, domestic servitude and sweatshop work. Poverty and lack of education are the driving force in trafficking. Relatives sometimes offer help to educate needy relatives but often education never becomes a reality and those concerned are both used and abused. To employ minors and not pay them is a criminal offence. Many people do not know this in Kenya. As the new Constitution is implemented many could be prosecuted. Often today we find forced labour has become endemic and socially acceptable. It will only change with poverty eradication and education

Factors found mainly in Africa.

In Africa we find the removal of body parts is a common practice especially for witchcraft. Young girls are also raped as a cure against HIV/Aids or are forced to become pregnant and the resulting child is sold to the highest bidder. Some children are driven to the military to become child soldiers; they are traumatised and marked for life. The list is surely not exhaustive…..

What is the Catholic Church saying to us today?

Pope Leo XIII started the ball rolling with his encyclicals concerning rights of workers and on the whole question of “Slavery”. The commitment to end slavery is rooted in the Catechism of the Catholic Church. (Paragraph  no 2414 www.ijpc.org) Vatican II in  1965 reaffirmed the same concern.  “ slavery,  prostitution, the selling of women and children, disgraceful working conditions where people are treated as mere tools, for profit rather than as free responsible persons; all these things and others of their like are infamies indeed.  They poison society..and are a supreme dishonour to the Creator”(Guadium et Spes,1965, www.ipjc.org)

Blessed John Paul II reflected the same concern in his Letter to Women in 1995 “Trafficking in human beings-especially women.. flourishes where opportunities to improve their standard of living or even to survive are limited. It becomes easy for the trafficker to offer his own “services” to the victims who do not often vaguely suspect what awaits them.  In some cases there are women and children destined to be exploited almost like slaves in their work and not infrequently in the sex industry, too”. In 2002 he further pointed out that “ the alarming increase in the trade in human beings is one of the pressing,political, social and economic problems associated with the process of globalisation; it presents a serious threat to the security of individual nations and question of international justice cannot deferred”.(Letter on the occasion of the “Twenty-First Century-The Human Rights Dimension to Trafficking in Human Beings” Conference 2002)

In a message to the Seventh Congress on the Pastoral Care of Tourism in; 2012 Pope Benedict XVI wrote “The trafficking of human persons or organ harvesting as well as the exploitation of minors abandoned into the hands of individuals without scruples and undergoing abuse and torture sadly often happens”. He asks that those who are in the field of tourism and indeed the whole international community to fight against this process. (23^rd April 2012-Vatican Information Service).

          Archbishop Silvano M. Tomasi, Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations and Specialised Agencies in Geneva speaking in September 2011 at the Human Rights Council said:

          “Awareness and prevention are key elements in its abolition”. He further commented that we are challenged: “To counteract the scourge of trafficking of women and children with greater determination and more concrete results, a convergence efforts is necessary; a mentality that is centred on the unique dignity of every person, a sure punishment for traffickers, fight against corruption “What is new” he said “is the globalisation of this trade and the development of the global market which exploits the extreme poverty and the vulnerability of many women and minors who try to escape the intolerable conditions of misery and violence”. Victim support is also essential in order to integrate victims back into life. (Fides 15^th September 2011)

What can we do concretely?

The Catholic Church has the best possible network in the world to eradicate “Trafficking in Persons”. The focus is clear Human Trafficking is the violation of human dignity which is a God-given gift. 

We are called to:

·        Challenge the whole economic order to focus on the eradication of poverty and unequal distribution of wealth collaborating is the establishment of a new social order.

·        Regional Bishops’ Conferences exist and provide a vehicle for working together on common concerns and provide basic networks.

·        The Bishops of England and Wales have been asked by the British Police to help them in their work against human trafficking. A Conference was held here in Rome on the 8^th May 2012 to share what is happening in this area. Cardinal Turkson the President of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace hosted the day. The speakers from the UK Police gave a presentation. Sr Eugenia Bonetti, a Consolata Missionary well known here in Italy and elsewhere for her work against human trafficking, shared her experience.

·        Workshops for Bishops, Priests, Religious men and women together with the laity. These are needed to fully understand the complexity and horrific situation that exists.

·        Providing Training of Trainers Sessions in Dioceses in order to touch the grassroots.

·        Each Diocese forms a particular Church and pastoral letter on “Trafficking in Persons” could be an effective tool in the pastoral care programme which could also be a possibility for a renewed reflection on human sexuality and family values together with economic assistance

·        Justice and Peace Commissions at all levels need to be involved in the prevention of human trafficking. Human Trafficking is a Justice and Human Rights issue. In many places it is looked on just as dealing with migrants. This is not true Human Trafficking is a separate desk from Migrants.

·        Small Christian Communities are our way to the grassroots in the rural areas and urban areas including the slums. In Machakos near Nairobi the Awareness Against Human Trafficking Collaboration have worked together with the Bishop and their Caritas Office. We have had Training of Trainers Sessions in order to reach out to every corner of the Diocese which has 900,000 Catholics, 62 parishes and now 11 teams as there are 11 Deaneries. The enthusiasm to do something is enormous… Now we have some victim support. The reports are often heartbreaking.  More will be done to be aware of the conditions especially on the Mombasa highway which has girls as young as 10 selling themselves for food and other essentials. This is not for the faint hearted.

·        Research and information are vitally important to ensure that the needs are clear and can be monitored and evaluated

·        We can provide training and back-up through our Catholic Secretariats as well as working with other Churches and Non Christians. Through the United Religions Initiative, the team I belong to works with Muslims, Hindus, Baha’i as well as other Churches.

·        Networks are basic to the flow of information and there is need of Co-ordinators in the Dioceses who are known and local officials need to know with whom to communicate. Diocesan Networks need the support of a national network and regional network. The International Union of Superiors UISG has been doing this first in Europe where it works well and now in Africa where it is in its infancy. There is a great deal of collaboration being experienced but named networks are more difficult.

·        There is a need for support systems which would include professionals who are prepared to give their time freely to assist victims when asked. There is a need for writers and artists and journalists to use their skill for pass the message though the Media.

·        There is a need for printed material flyers and posters as well as books for Training Trainers. These can be used in schools, hospitals, places of work, places of worship and can be freely given.

·        Use the all the forms of modern media.

·        In every area of our Diocese we reach our through the Sisters Associations…Zambia Uganda, Kenya and many other countries are having workshop but they need to be more and followed up..

·        The Good Samaritan. This is a well known story but have we ever thought about converting the robbers?

·        It was suggested that the 18^th May be a Day of Prayer for all who have been trafficked as it is the feast day of St Bakhita. Prayer is the touchstone of awareness of the plight of the trafficked.

·        In Kenya there are more than 2000 parishes. Imagine if we could create awareness in all these parishes, schools together with building a small scale finance sector to assist those who need education most. What about in our school assisting with more scholarships…?

·        What about vocational schools teaching skills? Agricultural training with respect for environment is key…. They exist but often the fees are too high for those who need it most.

·        This awareness can be done through families, the Small Christian Communities, hospitals, formation houses, seminaries, media

·        This sacredness of human person takes commitment and courage so can we can commit ourselves by implementing the three R’s Rescue, Rehabilitation and Re-integration.

·        Today many activities are taking place throughout Africa…Is this not what our presence is about championing the dignity of the human person providing people with a reasonable standard of living for their families and for young people education for both the girl and boy child. Restoring the precious values which in our modern globalised world often disappear.

“In the face of this difficult task and hearing the cries of suffering humanity, we must above all not surrender to discouragement. We must remember that there is a great majority that opposes those who seek to enrich themselves by exploiting the lives of their fellows. It includes men and women, citizens and leaders, people of faith and those of good will, who devote their lives every day in differing organizations and roles to the fight against the scourge of human trafficking. (Cardinal Peter K.A. Turkson, President Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, 8^th May 2012)

•         If from today we save one person from the horrors of trafficking it has been worth while. However, I believe we now have the opportunity to embark on a process to save many from this human tragedy.

Conclusion

The annual Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report of the U.S. Department of State (issued each June), which assessed the efforts of 184 foreign governments last year, highlights the “three P’s” – Prevention, Protection and Prosecution – as part of the States responsibilities in the fight against trafficking of human beings. Therefore, we, too, as members of mainly of faith-based organizations with common Christians values, having

different roles and responsibilities, but belonging to the same human family should be equally called to action and  to eradicate this evil.

As the Lavigerie family and in the Cardinal’s spirit what are we challenged to do? NOW!

This is a vast ecclesial event that we celebrate. 

·        We are all called to:

·        Join in the fight against trafficking in human beings to free its victims at all levels.

·        Let us share today the legacy that Cardinal Lavigerie has given us for the service of Africa. 

·        Can we be his fire, zeal and enthusiasm each in their own way and together as a Church to give witness that the Church cares passionately about the human person? 

·        We can challenge Africa as the Synod did to “Rise up” and say “No” to this slavery and with the support of us all we can restore hope in the dignity of the  human person.

·        Can we walk away as the Priest and the Levite did?

·        Remember the Cardinal’s  words “Few people. too few people  have the ultimate vocation; which is to be human”. Where do we stand?

·        This epidemic can be eradicated.

·        Are we prepared  for the challenge  to be truly human  reaching out to others in justice and love?

·        Thank you……in the time we have been here at least 20 people have been trafficked!

Maggi Kennedy MSOLA

Liberia: Christians Intensify Anti-Gay Campaign -Rally More Signatories to Press Govt Pass Felonious Law

Despite stiff international lobby to discourage the passage of a section of Liberia’s Domestic Relations Law making same-sex marriage a felonious act in the country, Liberian Christians are leaving no stone unturned to make Government stay the course and quickly pass the bill which articulates the matter but has been dusting in House Committee room since the Senate tendered it for concurrence. When passed by the Legislature, the burden would be on the laps of President Sirleaf currently sandwiched between upholding her human rights credential with the larger international community on the one hand and demonstrating adherence to her religious values and African traditions on the other. But before she would ever decide, the President’s Christian kin and kith are doing all within their powers to hold her to her moral roots--soliciting thousands of signatures from around the country perhaps to say that she got no excuse for not objecting to same-sex marriage. The Analyst reports.

The Liberian Christian community, or a section thereof, has launched what it calls signature exercise over the weekend in the Point 4 Community in Monrovia. The group heading the exercise calls itself the Anti Gay Rights Campaign team.

Accordingly, the exercise was intended to gauge the perspectives and receptivity of local residents to the campaign and to ensure that homosexuality remains illegal in the country.

Held under the, "No to Man Marrying Man, and No to Woman Marrying Woman” and led by Rev. Dr. Kortu K. Brown, campaign is aimed at affirming and cleaving to the traditional marriage union between a man and a woman as the only recognizable and legal definition of marriage in the country.
Rev. Brown used the campaign ceremony to urge Liberians to stand up for their faith and beliefs by rejecting subtle means by lesbians, gays, bi-sexual and transgender practitioners and supporters to promote and legalize same-sex practices in the country.

The astute Pentecostal cleric and executive committee member of the Liberian Council of Churches, who has been in the vanguard of meeting social needs for the past 22 years through various outlets, clarified that the intent of the campaign was to also strengthen the hand of the President of Liberia on the country’s position on same sex marriage.

“Liberia is a religious country where 98% of the population is Christian and Muslim. They are the majority and that’s what democracy is about,” the chairman of the Board of the Pentecostal Fellowship Union of Liberia said.

Also speaking, Rev. Dr. Jasper Stephen Ndaborlor, President of the Pentecostal Fellowship Union of Liberia (PFUL) who is also pastor of the Monrovia Free Pentecostal Church in Sinkor, told residents in the community that the purpose of the campaign is to ensure that Liberia doesn’t legalize same-sex marriage because of the influence of the “international community”.

“We cannot fight the international community”, he averred, “but gay or lesbian right is not a human right.”
The executive director of the New Citizen Movement, Inc., Rev. Cleopatra J. Watson called upon Liberians to lend their support to the campaign to ensure that gay or lesbian practices are not legalized in the country.

“We are fighting for our children’s future”, she said, adding, “our children are already going astray, legal homosexual practices will be the worst thing to allow them to be engaged in”.
In varying comments, signees’ comments were mixed on the issue of same sex marriage.
The majority support the campaign. “This is wrong”, a male in his fifties working with the LEC said. “I want to be a part of this campaign. We cannot allow this bad thing to happen to Liberia”.

Some were skeptical arguing that whatever the campaign does, people in government who want the practice legalized will have their way.
“I am against gay business but I will not sign,” a mechanic worker said. “The people will still force this thing down our throat and nothing will come out of it”.
One photographer argued that “even though am anti-gay, I want to be neutral”. A female in her early thirties rushed to the signature table from New Kru Town to inquire what was happening.

“What am I hearing so? That man should marry man in the Liberia? The men are not plenty already and many women without men then how can they bring this kind of thing in the country?”
Qualms with the church in Liberia
One pastor queried the church for initiating incomplete programs. “Every time the church starts something it doesn’t end it. Look ‘Liberia for Jesus’ prayer crusade is no more and we don’t even hear about the signature campaign to make Liberia a Christian state again. I hope this is not the same thing,” he said.

Signing in Totota
Bishop Albert Miller of the Universal Church of Christ International simultaneously led the signature campaign in Totota on Saturday, September 1, 2012. About 2500 letters were given out for signatures to field workers who are also pastors and community volunteers who are scattered in the field collecting signatures under the pilot scheme.

Religious Cooperation
The anti gay rights campaign is not a just a Christian initiative even though it’s being led by church leaders. It’s a Liberian initiative involving Christians, Muslims, etc. The Bible forbids sodomy. The Koran does the same. In fact the Koran calls for the stoning to death of perpetrators. Church leaders have finalized a position statement to be presented to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President of Liberia affirming the Church in Liberia’s position against same-sex marriage in the country. The Statement commends the House of Senate for passing a bill against legalizing sodomy in the country.

Signatures Collection
Since the launching of the pilot signature campaign, about 10,000 signatures have been gathered in the Monrovia areas and beyond. The campaign is currently active in 13 of the 15 counties.

Challenges
The anti-gay campaign team is calling on Liberians to kindly support the campaign by contributing to photocopying 100,000 or more letters, transporting and communicating with volunteers in the field. Calls are also made for citizens to volunteer to ensure the success of the campaign including the formal launching ceremony.

Liberia: Christians Intensify Anti-Gay Campaign -Rally More Signatories to Press Govt Pass Felonious Law

Despite stiff international lobby to discourage the passage of a section of Liberia’s Domestic Relations Law making same-sex marriage a felonious act in the country, Liberian Christians are leaving no stone unturned to make Government stay the course and quickly pass the bill which articulates the matter but has been dusting in House Committee room since the Senate tendered it for concurrence. When passed by the Legislature, the burden would be on the laps of President Sirleaf currently sandwiched between upholding her human rights credential with the larger international community on the one hand and demonstrating adherence to her religious values and African traditions on the other.

But before she would ever decide, the President’s Christian kin and kith are doing all within their powers to hold her to her moral roots--soliciting thousands of signatures from around the country perhaps to say that she got no excuse for not objecting to same-sex marriage. The Analyst reports.
The Liberian Christian community, or a section thereof, has launched what it calls signature exercise over the weekend in the Point 4 Community in Monrovia. The group heading the exercise calls itself the Anti Gay Rights Campaign team.

Accordingly, the exercise was intended to gauge the perspectives and receptivity of local residents to the campaign and to ensure that homosexuality remains illegal in the country.

Held under the, "No to Man Marrying Man, and No to Woman Marrying Woman” and led by Rev. Dr. Kortu K. Brown, campaign is aimed at affirming and cleaving to the traditional marriage union between a man and a woman as the only recognizable and legal definition of marriage in the country.
Rev. Brown used the campaign ceremony to urge Liberians to stand up for their faith and beliefs by rejecting subtle means by lesbians, gays, bi-sexual and transgender practitioners and supporters to promote and legalize same-sex practices in the country.

The astute Pentecostal cleric and executive committee member of the Liberian Council of Churches, who has been in the vanguard of meeting social needs for the past 22 years through various outlets, clarified that the intent of the campaign was to also strengthen the hand of the President of Liberia on the country’s position on same sex marriage.

“Liberia is a religious country where 98% of the population is Christian and Muslim. They are the majority and that’s what democracy is about,” the chairman of the Board of the Pentecostal Fellowship Union of Liberia said.
Also speaking, Rev. Dr. Jasper Stephen Ndaborlor, President of the Pentecostal Fellowship Union of Liberia (PFUL) who is also pastor of the Monrovia Free Pentecostal Church in Sinkor, told residents in the community that the purpose of the campaign is to ensure that Liberia doesn’t legalize same-sex marriage because of the influence of the “international community”.
“We cannot fight the international community”, he averred, “but gay or lesbian right is not a human right.”

The executive director of the New Citizen Movement, Inc., Rev. Cleopatra J. Watson called upon Liberians to lend their support to the campaign to ensure that gay or lesbian practices are not legalized in the country.
“We are fighting for our children’s future”, she said, adding, “our children are already going astray, legal homosexual practices will be the worst thing to allow them to be engaged in”.

In varying comments, signees’ comments were mixed on the issue of same sex marriage.
The majority support the campaign. “This is wrong”, a male in his fifties working with the LEC said. “I want to be a part of this campaign. We cannot allow this bad thing to happen to Liberia”.

Some were skeptical arguing that whatever the campaign does, people in government who want the practice legalized will have their way.
“I am against gay business but I will not sign,” a mechanic worker said. “The people will still force this thing down our throat and nothing will come out of it”.
One photographer argued that “even though am anti-gay, I want to be neutral”. A female in her early thirties rushed to the signature table from New Kru Town to inquire what was happening.

“What am I hearing so? That man should marry man in the Liberia? The men are not plenty already and many women without men then how can they bring this kind of thing in the country?”

Qualms with the church in Liberia

One pastor queried the church for initiating incomplete programs. “Every time the church starts something it doesn’t end it. Look ‘Liberia for Jesus’ prayer crusade is no more and we don’t even hear about the signature campaign to make Liberia a Christian state again. I hope this is not the same thing,” he said.
Signing in Totota
Bishop Albert Miller of the Universal Church of Christ International simultaneously led the signature campaign in Totota on Saturday, September 1, 2012. About 2500 letters were given out for signatures to field workers who are also pastors and community volunteers who are scattered in the field collecting signatures under the pilot scheme.

Religious Cooperation

The anti gay rights campaign is not a just a Christian initiative even though it’s being led by church leaders. It’s a Liberian initiative involving Christians, Muslims, etc. The Bible forbids sodomy. The Koran does the same. In fact the Koran calls for the stoning to death of perpetrators. Church leaders have finalized a position statement to be presented to the Speaker of the House of Representatives and the President of Liberia affirming the Church in Liberia’s position against same-sex marriage in the country. The Statement commends the House of Senate for passing a bill against legalizing sodomy in the country.

Signatures Collection

Since the launching of the pilot signature campaign, about 10,000 signatures have been gathered in the Monrovia areas and beyond. The campaign is currently active in 13 of the 15 counties.

Challenges

The anti-gay campaign team is calling on Liberians to kindly support the campaign by contributing to photocopying 100,000 or more letters, transporting and communicating with volunteers in the field. Calls are also made for citizens to volunteer to ensure the success of the campaign including the formal launching ceremony.

OPINION: Cardinal Burke Talk on Canon Law

Knowledge and respect for Canon law is indispensable to the Church’s response to the call to a new evangelization.

So declared Cardinal Raymond Burke (64), the chief jurist of the Holy See, at the Canon Law Conference in Nairobi organized by the Canon Law Society of Kenya. He is the highest ranking Prelate in the area of law in the Church. His official title is the Prefect of the Supreme Tribunal of the Apostolic Signatura.

The conference was attended by 100 priests from all over Kenya, including 10 bishops.

A general ignorance of canon law must be overcome. The false conflict between canon law and the pastoral nature of the Church, between truth and love, must be addressed. All forms of manipulation of the law to advance particular agenda redound to the grave harm of the faithful and of the Church as the Body of Christ.

Liturgical law must enjoy the primacy among canonical norms, for it safeguards the most sacred realities in the Church. These were some of the key ideas covered by His Eminence.

Quoting Blessed John Paul, he said “Priests who faithfully celebrate Mass according to the liturgical norms, and communities which conform to those norms, quietly but eloquently demonstrate their love for the Church.”

The remaking of “the Christian fabric of the ecclesial community,” which is necessary for the “mending of the Christian fabric of society,” will have as a fundamental element a new knowledge of and respect for the canonical discipline of the Church. He emphasized the hypocrisy of exalting charity when we do not practice justice in obedience to God’s law.

Cardinal Burke placed his reflections within the context of the present situation of the Church in a totally secularized culture and the response of the Church to the culture of our time. The response is a new evangelization.

While the question pertains to the life of the universal Church he noted that its application to the life of the Church in the Kenya is evident.

Drawing heavily on the Magisterium of Blessed John Paul, he described it as a tireless call to recognize the Church’s challenge to be faithful to her divinely-given mission and to respond to the challenge by means of a new evangelization. He referred to “On the Vocation and the Mission of the Lay Faithful in the Church and in the World,” “Pastores Dabo Vobis”, “On the Consecrated Life and Its Mission in the Church and in the World,” and “Novo Millennio Ineunte”.

The Cardinal then proceeded to say that for the Church to remake her own fabric requires that she acknowledge a rupture in her life caused by the failure to see the organic nature of her life, received from Christ, faithfully down the centuries, the gift of the Holy Spirit for the evangelization of the world.

He referred to some aspects of the nature of the Second Vatican Council as being basically misunderstood. There had been a mentality that talked of the elimination of an old constitution and creation of a new one.
He shared some personal experiences as a student of Canon Law in September of 1980, he experienced how much the Church’s discipline was disdained by her priests, in general.

“When I answered the question of a brother priest regarding my area of study, the fairly consistently reaction was expressed in words like these: “I thought that the Church had done away with that,” and “What a waste of your time.”
Some elements had tried to highjack the renewal mandated by the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council and this had a particularly devastating effect on the Church’s discipline

“It is profoundly sad to note, for instance, how the failure of knowledge and application of the canon law, which was indeed still in force, contributed significantly to the scandal of the sexual abuse of minors by the clergy in our some parts of the world.”

“Indeed, in the United States of America, my homeland, in which the scandal has been great, it is often asserted that it was caused by the absence of a proper discipline in the Church to deal justly with such abhorrent situations. It is assumed that the Church lacked the proper canonical discipline with which to investigate such crimes and sanction them. The truth of the matter is that the Church had dealt with such crimes in the past, which should come as a surprise to no one, and that she had in place a carefully articulated process by which to investigate accusations, with full respect for the rights of all parties involved, including the protection of potential victims during the time of the investigation; to reach a just decision regarding their truth, and to apply the appropriate sanction. The discipline in place was not followed because it was not known and, in fact, was presumed not to exist.”

“Pope Paul VI repeatedly confronted the loss of respect for the service of canon law in safeguarding and fostering our life in Christ in the Church.

His repeated appeals for a new appreciation of the Church’s discipline are an indication of the gravity of the weakened situation of canon law, at the time.
Confronting a general opinion that somehow the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council had repudiated the service of Canon Law, he declared: “On the contrary the Council not only does not repudiate canon law, the norm that spells out the duties and defends the rights of the members of the Church, but wishes and desires it as a consequence of the power bequeathed by Christ to his Church, as a necessity of its social and visible nature, its communitarian and hierarchical nature, as the guide of religious life and of Christian perfection, and as the juridical safeguard of liberty itself.”

Canon law is not opposed to freedom but serves “what is needed to safeguard the common good – including the basic good of exercising freedom – which only a well-ordered social order can adequately guarantee.”

Cardinal Burke referred to the fact that years of a lack of knowledge of the Church’s discipline and even of a presumption that such discipline was no longer fitting to the nature of the Church reaped gravely harmful fruits in the Church.

For example, the pervasive violation of the liturgical law of the Church, the revolution in catechesis which often rendered the teaching of the faith vacuous and confused, if not erroneous; the breakdown of the discipline of priestly formation and priestly life, the abandonment of the essential elements of religious life and the devastating loss of fundamental direction in many congregations of religious sisters, brothers and priests; the loss of the identity of charitable, educational and healthcare institutions bearing the name of Catholic; and the failure of respect for the nature of marriage and the time-proven process for judging claims of nullity of marriage in ecclesiastical tribunals.

A frequent manifestation of the confusion and error regarding the irreplaceable role of canon law in the life of the Church has been the claim that the Church’s discipline is, somehow, in opposition to her pastoral care of the faithful. Blessed John Paul confronted this false opposition between Church discipline and her pastoral care on many occasions. Pope Benedict XVI recently recalled his words “The judge… must always guard against the risk of misplaced compassion, which could degenerate into sentimentality, itself pastoral only in appearance.”

In marriage cases, he said, one must avoid pseudo-pastoral claims that would situate questions on a purely horizontal plane.

The supreme good of readmission to Eucharistic Communion after sacramental Reconciliation demands, instead, that due consideration be given to the authentic good of the individuals, inseparable from the truth of their canonical situation
Pope John Paul II pursued with vigor the revision of the 1917 Code of Canon Law.
There was no question in his mind, as a Father of the Second Vatican Ecumenical Council, about the Council’s desire that the perennial discipline of the Church be addressed to the present time.

Clearly, the Council’s desire regarding Church discipline did not intend the abandonment of her discipline but a new appreciation of it in the context of contemporary challenges.

The renewal of Christian living was the intention of the new code.

These words point to the essential service of canon law in the work of the new evangelization, that is, the living of our life in Christ with the engagement and energy of the first disciples. Canonical discipline is directed to the pursuit, at all times, of holiness of life.

The discipline of the law which opens the way to freedom in loving God and our neighbour.

Far from hindering the living of our life in Christ, canonical discipline safeguards and fosters our Christian life.

By their very nature canonical laws are to be observed.
The theme of the Conference was “Canon Law at the service of justice and freedom in the Church as the People of God”.

Bishop Sulameti, Patron of the Kenya Canon Law Society, and Bishop Dominic Kimengich, President of the Society, in their welcoming addresses said it is an honour for the Church in Kenya to be visited by such an expert. It will give encouragement to the recently set up diocesan tribunals, one of the fruits of previous conferences.

Fr Aphonse Diaz, organiser of the conference for the past 10 years, has spoken of the increasing interest and attention to canon law in this country. This he said is expressed by the regular one hundred or so priests from every diocese who attend the conference each year.

Students from CUEA (Catholic University of East Africa), including some nuns, also attend as well as participants from Uganda and Tanzania.

Msgr Cormac Burke (85), retired judge of the Roman Rota or high court of the Church, who lives in Nairobi, former colleague of Cardinal Burke, a namesake but not a relative, has said that Cardinal Burke made global news recently with his unequivocal support for the US bishops in their ongoing debate with President Obama over Obamacare, which wants to force Catholic health care institutions to prescribe contraceptives and perform abortions, this has threatened these top notch services.

By Fr Conor Donnelly.

OPINION: Resolutions of the UCAP Workshop on "The Role of the Media in Peace Building, Conflict Resolution and Good Governance."

Introduction

Under the theme, "The Role of Catholic Media in Peace Building, Conflict Resolution and Good Governance," UCAP organized a four-day media workshop from July 22-25, 2012 in Mombasa, Kenya.

The workshop was attended by about 100 participants, mainly Catholic communication practitioners and academics, from a variety of African nations including Burkina Faso, Cote d'Ivoire, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Mali, Mozambique, Nigeria, South Africa, South Sudan, Tanzania, Uganda, South Sudan, Nigeria and Zimbabwe, in addition to special representatives from the Vatican, Symposium of Episcopal Conferences of Africa and Madagascar (SECAM), Catholic News Service (CNS) USA and the Catholic Media Council (CAMECO) Germany.

The Workshop was open by His Grace Archbishop Boniface Lele of Mombasa Archdiocese. In his speech, appealed to Catholic journalists to always endeavour to reflect Christian values in their professional work and, in particular, to avail of the wider reach of new media to proclaim the Gospel.

During the workshop, papers were presented by media academics and communication practitioners, which dwelt on the role of the media in peace building, conflict resolution and good governance, the challenges faced by the media in bringing about good governance and peace, the role of SECAM in promoting justice, peace and reconciliation, and media convergence and the future of democracy.
After several sessions of discussions and reflections on the papers and issues, it was generally agreed that:

• the media remain a very powerful tool of social change due to their potency to influence policy, set development agenda and avert conflict.
• in order to enhance their role in peace building, conflict resolution and good governance, African journalists need to be encouraged to avail of opportunities to improve their professional capabilities.
• Catholic journalists must put the interests of the people first by writing stories that highlight their needs, as well as by setting the agenda for governments and development agencies to act on such needs.
• The Catholic journalists’ common vision towards promoting respect for basic human rights, peace, justice and social welfare needs to be translated into feasible and tangible projects.

There is need for collaboration among Catholic communication practitioners and media establishments towards finding alternative means of giving voice to the voiceless and exposing corruption.

Recommendations

Following from these observations, the following recommendations were made:
• In union with the Catholic Church UCAP should pursue the establishment of linkages with national and international organizations for the purposes of capacity building for African Catholic journalists.
• Catholic journalists must always refer to the Post Synodal Exhortation entitled Africae Munus as a basic guide in the promotion of justice, peace, reconciliation and human dignity, especially among women and other minorities.
• To that end, journalists should endeavour to use social media and new means of communication to trigger the change expected in the Exhortation.
• The church needs to employ professional journalists who can simplify the language used in their pastoral documents.
• Further studies must be conducted in order to improve the existing codes of ethics in the communication field.
• Journalists must strive to project the variety of views on issues of public interest regardless of social political or economic statuses of news subjects, and to this end, Catholic journalists need to design and package stories if possible in local languages.
• Catholic journalists must provide enlightenment on issues of public interest, with a view to enabling the people to make informed decisions on matters affecting their lives, especially in political representation and economic entrepreneurship.
• It is a moral responsibility of Catholic journalists to use creative means of investigative journalism in addition to new media to uphold transparency and accountability of public officials and credible elections
Catholic journalists must give more space to stories that promote peace rather than giving undue coverage to conflicts and sensationalism.

As a means of realizing these recommendations, national chapters of UCAP are exhorted to envision and implement appropriate follow-up programmes and projects on a regular basis.

Finally, with profound gratitude to God for the success of the Workshop, UCAP commends the role of the Catholic Bishop's Conferences of Africa in promoting peace, justice and reconciliation. UCAP also expresses deep appreciation to SECAM, the US Catholic Bishops' Conference, CNS, CAMECO, Bayard Presse, AMECEA and the Episcopal Conference of Kenya for their generous financial and moral support, and the Local Organizing Committee for their efforts towards the successful hosting of the Workshop.

Centrality of media ethics in coverage in elections

A Paper presented at the
UCAP KENYA CHAPTER WORKSHOP, MOMBASA-KENYA
24TH JULY 2012
By
Jane Frances Angalia
(PhD candidate)
+254722369389
jfclaren@gmail.com
Senior Communications & Media Relations Officer
National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC)

Introduction: As in all other sectors of life, news media play a pivotal role in election campaigns. Today, the role of the media has changed from being ‘merely a channel of communication to being a major actor in the campaigning process’ (Butler and Ranney, 1992: 283). News about politics is no longer anchored in a ‘party logic’, but rather presented in terms of ‘media logic’ where messages are designed to fit news organizations’ routines, packaging and audience optimization strategies (Altheide and Snow, 1979; Mazzoleni, 1987).

The centrality of the media and the increasingly mediated character of election campaigns, both in Europe and especially in the US, is well documented (e.g. Hallin, 1992; Hallin and Mancini, 1984).
Purpose: This workshop paper evaluated the centrality of media ethics in coverage of general elections in Kenya. Specifically, the paper attempted to look how the media coverage has been used by politicians to reach unto the public during campaigns. The paper also looks at how the media can influence the public either positively or negatively by the way they convey the messages or issues especially the messages uttered by the politicians.

Methodology: The paper used a desk based methodology. Specifically, the paper identified documentary evidence in the form of already completed studies that focused on media strategies and messages that are used in the coverage of elections in Kenya and beyond.

The paper also paid special attention to how the media is giving coverage to the current presidential candidates. At the moment, the media is focusing more on Uhuru Kenyatta, William Ruto and Raila Odinga and Musalia Mudavadi. The media is focusing on these four as they are hotly contesting for the presidency and as we know there is also the ongoing case in ICC, which concerns two of the presidential candidates, and a third suspect whos accused of having misused the media in coverage of elections 2012/2013.

On a positive note, the media is also sending warnings to all members of the society and the politicians during this campaigning season not to use or utter any words that could be termed as hate speech. This is because the National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC) is up to the task of bringing the culprits of hate speech to the courts so as to avoid incitement among different ethnic groups.

The commission is investigating three kikuyu musicians who are being interrogated about their songs which are termed to be spreading hate speech and campaigning for Uhuru Kenyatta (one of the presidential hopefuls). The NCIC flagged the songs, ‘Mwaka wa Hiti’ (year of the hyena) by De Mathew, Muigai wa Njoroge’s ‘Hague bound’ and ‘Uhuru ni Witu’ by Kamande wa Kioi after public complaints.

According to the National Cohesion and Integration Act, if the musicians are found guilty of hate speech, they will be liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years or a fine of Sh1 million or both. NCIC therefore recommends that media use their Media Guidelines on monitoring hate speech in their coverage of elections and other activities.

The media is also now closely focusing so much on issues that are happening around the politician, which has seen a release of a book by Miguna Miguna unveiling the prime ministers betrayal after sacking him from power in the book entitled “Peeling off the mask”. The so-called ‘Migunaleaks’ book, the newspapers, internet blogs, twitter, TVs and radios are all competing to shape the thoughts of the audience about political actors.

Findings: Findings indicate that the theories that support the use of media messages and strategies and are related to politics and media include the “ agenda setting theory”, Culturalist theory, Class-dominant theory, Limited-effects theory. Findings also indicate that countries in developed economies use all types of media to campaign for the politicians before and during campaign period. In addition, it was possible to conclude that the media have both intended and unintended roles in a liberal democracy.

The intended roles in a liberal democracy include voter education on various political issues, creating a forum for discussion, and acting as the “fourth estate”, while the unintended roles are political violence and conflict.

Originality value: The paper has original value since it has contributed to the pedagogic discourse on the centrality of the media in covering elections in Kenya. This paper significantly contributes to knowledge on the centrality of the media and the intended and unintended roles of the media in a diverse society characterized by a weak liberal democratic political system. Specifically, it tracks the role of media ethics in escalating fragile politics into politically motivated violence during elections and referendums.

Recommendations
The paper recommends that further studies should be done on the ways in which the media in Kenya can ensure adherence to the “media code of ethics”, media guidelines in the constitution and communications act, as well as in the National Cohesion media monitoring guidelines, among others. Adherence to ethical coverage of elections will, hopefully, therefore reduce the unintended negative consequences it has on the audience.

Specifically, there is need for all stakeholders to critically look at what structures need to be put in place to make media reduce its negative effect on election violence? How one needs to isolate the intended consequences from unintended consequences so as to know what to criminalize and what not to criminalize? And also explore the extent to which media freedom should be enjoyed, and when it should not be abused!

Conclusion
Coverage of media elections can be a great challenge, especially in a country like Kenya where tribal following is so intense. Kenyans need to rise above negative issues like tribal worship, ethnicity and be objective in their choice of leaders. Indeed, they need to think and act in the creation of a united country. To this end, we at NCIC have come up with a Kenya Kwanza Charter which I will all encourage you to sign and live up-to and encourage the practice of the values enshrined therein (see attached charter sign and return to me for update of all wishing that Kenya remains a country where people co-exist harmoniously and in peace).

THE MEDIA THAT KENYANS WANT A PAPER PRESENTED BY DANIEL K. MWARINGA

The main finding of this study is that the Kenyan media have been operating in an unpredictable and swiftly changing political, social, cultural, economic and technological environment that has heavily influenced its development. A hostile and inadequate political, legal, policy and regulatory environment continues to negatively impact on the media in Kenya. Unsophisticatedliberalization of telecommunications since 1998 led to slow, uneven and haphazard growth in broadcasting. However, the new constitution is set to radically change the environment within which media operate in Kenya after the enactment of media legislations in the next three years.

Government attitude towards media and communication - as a necessary evil has grudgingly changed as manifested in the drafting of the Information and Communication Master Plan, 2008, National ICT Policy, 2008 and Freedom of Information Policy, 2008. For a while there were misgivings within the media industry about The Kenya Information and Communications Act (No.2 of 1998). However, the Act has since been amended with input from the media industry to address some of the grievances, among others, the establishment of and assignment of functions to a Broadcasting Content Advisory Council. The Broadcast Council was inaugurated by the Ministry of Information and Communications in June 2010 after the media industry, through the Media Council of Kenya appointed three members as required by the amended Act.

The media lack the will, intellectual leadership and capacity to address the diversity of legal, policy and regulatory challenges facing them. Their desultory handling of media laws and regulation is indicative of its lack of commitment to address critical issues facing the sector radically and speedily. Big investment media organizations that are well managed, have financial resources and employ trained journalists also tend to maintain high standards of professionalism.

Poorly managed small investment media organizations face financial constraints and rely on untrained and less experienced journalists.
Because of the absence of common journalism education standards, quality training of journalists is wanting. Inadequately trained and inexperienced journalism lecturers, ineffective regulation of training colleges and lack of financial and material resources all militate against a quality journalism education. Added to this is the fact that corruption is endemic in all media and cuts across all levels of staff. Journalists, editors and owners are politically co-opted and openly show editorial bias.

Although the code of conduct for journalists is available, conformity and adherence is problematic across the board. Employers rarely promote it among entry-level journalists. Journalists’ poor working conditions undermine gains already made in encouraging professional behavior.
Media organizations place a low premium on investigative journalism and hardly prioritize it. Training institutions do not teach it well. Kenyan journalists have not received sufficient training in peace journalism or been exposed to it, nor have they received training on a variety of specializations that would enable them to explain the world around them to their readers and audiences.

Though widely popular, ethnic language radio stations easily excite ethnic passions. The national broadcaster, the Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC) falls short of the standard as a public interest information service because of its bias and partiality in reporting politics.

Weak and disorganized professional associations perennially sufer from poor leadership, fnancial constraints, disinterested members and poor networking capacity. Although a few specialized media non-governmental organisations have the capacity to carry out advocacy and lobbying for the sector, they face a variety of financial constraints.

For some time now, the media in Kenya have been moving towards monopoly, concentrating ownership in a few hands and spreading it to cover more fields. Media owners, driven by the profit motive, have opposed government proposals (National Information and Communications Technology Policy, 2008) to limit cross-media ownership.

Insufficient broadband frequencies, limited investment in the television sector, opaque licensing and allocation of frequencies undermine diversity in the ownership of broadcast media outlets. Persistent official hostility towards some media owners discourages investors and confuses owners.
Media owners with strong political affiliations tend to be politically co-opted and influence editorial policy in line with their persuasions. The confluence of opinion on the editorial direction media should take is sometimes mitigated by stiff business competition, which creates disharmony among media owners. Media owners are largely driven by the profit motive and often ignore social responsibility roles.
Small media investors represented by the Alternative Media Network (AMNET) are not well integrated into the Media Owners Association (MOA). Community media, on the other hand, also face an uncertain future due to financial sustainability challenges as well as interference from political representatives in the constituencies where the community media outlets are sited. The umbrella body for community media (KCOMNET) is also facing funding challenges that has reduced program activities.

The MOA is perceived to wield unduly immense influence over the regulatory Media Council of Kenya – directly through representation and indirectly through its financial clout since currently it provides much of the funding for the MCK. Kenya’s audiences can access diverse media choices but they are heavily fragmented.

Audience habits, preferences and patterns affect media behaviour. Kenya’s media consumers use radio the most, followed by television and newspapers. They expose themselves to more than one channel and media per day. Kenyans have adapted to mobile telephony quickly as manifested by their use of mobile phone banking such as M-PESA, but many still prefer ethnic language media to English and Kiswahili radio stations. They demand media loyalty and ignore media that are unable to satisfy their unique political susceptibilities and sensitivities.
Audiences in Kenya change quickly, forcing the media to adapt to their needs and interests promptly. Although media literacy is low, trust in the media to report accurately on political issues is very high.
With an annual Sh17 billion advertising base, Kenya can support media growth. Advertisers are resilient and use media even during economic down turns. Media revenue from advertising has steadily grown since 2003; and is consistent with the growth of additional segments of the media.
Although the government – easily the largest spender in the Kenyan economy – has a tendency to punish independent and critical media through denial of advertising, other private advertisers use their financial muscle to have their way with the media on sensitive matters that touch on them.
An advertising code is in place, but adherence is weak. Advertisers in the tobacco and alcohol industry use mediated corporate social responsibilities strategies to bridge the gap created by anti-tobacco and alcohol advertisement laws. Some big advertisers and sponsors pay journalists and editors to guarantee positive coverage.

Despite these challenges, the media in Kenya has a sunny side. The information and technology revolution has positively afected the media in Kenya. Technological convergence has provided multiple information platforms that have increased the diversity of information sources for audiences, brought greater efciency in media operations and encouraged the growth of citizen journalism.
Large media houses, such as the Nation Media Group, the Standard Group, Wananchi Group and Multi-Choice, are quickly adapting to new technologies. The small media houses continue to use old and expensive technology because adopting newer technology has high cost implications. The state-run KBC forks out Sh120 million in monthly bills - money it does not have - because of relying on old technology.
Digital migration from analog to digital technology can bring huge benefits to the sector as it will avail more television channels to investors. However, digital migration is overly expensive for the television sector. The government has given KBC Sh1 00 million to pilot digital TV from 2009. Although technological convergence is good, it has brought with it new challenges such as the need for reliable high-speed Internet connectivity.
A desirable media

• Kenyans desire a free, independent, assertive, vibrant and responsible media that would effectively advance democracy, human rights, good governance and socioeconomic transformation. Such media would provide platforms for campaigning against the culture of impunity that is a key challenge to Kenya’s political and socio-economic transformation.
• Kenyans want professionally run media that promote, respect and adhere to the fundamental principles and global standards of journalism practice. They yearn for media that promote professional behavior in newsrooms and respect the code of conduct.
• Kenyans also want media that support efforts to promote professionalism in journalism practice in the country; and gather and provide accurate, fair, balanced and impartial information, education and entertainment to all Kenyans.
• Kenyans want plural and diverse media that promote diversity of opinions and respond to the diverse aspirations and expectations of the entire population, embracing age, education, gender, social status, interests and ethnic backgrounds.
• They want media that respect and operate under the principles of public interest and impartially balance competing interests against the attention and susceptibilities of different audiences in Kenya.
• Kenyans want media that would promote a Kenyan identity and national cohesion within a global context; a media that are sensitive to the welfare of journalists and provide competitive working conditions.
• Kenyans want an independent and assertive public service broadcaster that would discharge its mandate efficiently and impartially to all Kenyans without fear or favor.
• They want accountable ethnic language radios that are not politically captured and do not propagate hate speech nor ethnic disharmony.
• Kenyans want commercially viable, independent and accountable community multi-media platforms that amplify the voices of local communities on issues that affect them while promoting a development agenda.
• Kenyans want media that promote the development of local content and talent. There is need to undertake further research on applications and the financial viability of emerging local content industry in Kenya.
• Kenyans want private media that balance commercial interests and the development imperatives of the country; media that are accountable and corruption-free; and media that promote media literacy among their audiences.

Towards the desired media in Kenya

No single strategy can deliver the media Kenyans want. The following are offered as some of the steps that must be taken together to deliver the media Kenyans desire.

1. Strengthen professionalism in the practice of journalism through training
Programmes associationsand organizations.

2. Strengthen lobbying and advocacy for the repeal of all anti-media laws alongside the enactment of a media-friendly constitution and laws, with emphasis on pressurizing the government to act expeditiously.
3. Intensify efforts to lobby for the enactment of a Freedom of Information Act to guarantee greater access to information held by the government and other public bodies and review sections of the Kenya Information and Communication Act 2008 and the Media Act, 2007 that inhibit or constrain effective operations of the media industry.
4. Build capacity of the Media Council of Kenya (MCK) to enable it to effectively and efficiently act as a regulator for journalism practice in Kenya. Also, strengthen MCK to develop industry guidelines on working conditions for journalists and monitor adherence to them. There is need for MCK to upscale their act to speedily register all media and compel them to support strategies for professionalizing journalism practice in Kenya. There is need to strengthen the MCK capacity to monitor media content and adherence to code of conduct for journalists.
5. Build capacity for small media organizations, especially ethnic language and community radio stations, to effectively handle interactive live broadcasts as a way of nurturing a culture for peace journalism. There is need to provide clear guidelines for monitoring hate speech and incitement in radio stations.
6. Strengthen peace media in Kenya. There is a need to integrate conflict management and peace journalism in journalism training programmes at university level as well as in in-house training. Media houses should encourage journalism that has a unique Kenyan identity and image.
7. Promote media literacy as well as other eforts that scrutinize media behavior. There is need for media to promote media literacy among audiences. Media products and services are most useful to audiences when they know how to make informed decisions from them.
8. Establish media watch and accountability programmes and indices. A periodic
evaluation of media performance should be encouraged. Already, some effort is being made through the African Media Barometer. There is need for a further dye on corruption in the media.
9. Support the use of media as platforms for promoting development in Kenya. There need to support efforts that leverage civil society development programmes on the media. Policy guidelines on minimum development content for broadcasting media is required, as is periodic monitoring of media coverage of development issues.
10. Promote citizen media and journalism. There is need to strengthen efforts that exploit the potential of technological convergence to expand the diversity of information choices for communities.
11. Encourage media to embrace corporate social responsibility as a way of giving back to their audiences.

Media as agenda setters for elections and the development of the society
By Frank Mugabi

Ucap 2012 workshop, july 22-26 @ sun n sand resort beach, mombasa, kenya.

By Frank Mugabi, Journalist with Vision Group in Uganda.
What do we mean by agenda setting?
It can be defined as the art or science of creating a perceived importance to particular issues or subjects.
And to the media, this refers to the way different issues are reported about and discussed.
Agenda setting by the media-cont.
It can also be referred to as media framing and it presents in various ways including catch phrasing, taglines, visual images, moral evaluations, metaphors, depictions etc
To sum up, the media not only has the ability to tell the public what to think about but also what to actually think.
Media and agenda setting during elections
The media wields much space to influence an election and this can be either positively or negatively. Numerous studies all over the world like Dearing and Rogers 1996 and Ghanem 1996 established firm correlations between media and public priorities.
In the quest to set the agenda, the media could actually hold the key to which contestant wins or doesn’t win an election.
Media and agenda setting during elections
A clear example is how the media has diverted the American presidential campaigns to what some people think matter less.
Questions have been posted from some corners on how the media has managed to lock the voters into discussing how Romney failed/or didn’t fail to remit his tax returns over issues like the economy, jobs, the deficit and anything else that matters to voters.
When mass media emphasize a topic, the audience/public receiving the message will consider the topic to be important.
But its not an absolute end. The public could respond differently depending on the issue raised, persons involved or the media outlet passing on such info.
The audience/readers shouldn’t be taken for granted. They have their own understanding of which media may matter for some issues but less
But again, whether the media really affect public opinion or not is irrelevant.
What matters here is that political actors believe that TV and newspapers determine the public’s issue priorities.
Not reacting on topics widely covered in the media might be considered as incapacity, or even worse, indifference. As a result, politicians tend to adopt media issues, if not by solving the issue with real measures then, at least, by showing their commitment and displaying their responsiveness.
This is the reason opposition politicians rely on the media as a kind of heuristic device, a search engine constantly browsing through society and throwing up new, unattended, and gravely neglected topics. Yet they also respond to positive news noting how good and successful a job they are doing.
Conclusion
As I conclude, I want to caution the mainstream media on the emergency and growing popularity of the new media (social media).
It’s a challenge to mainstream media to remain relevant by highlighting community issues and not the editor’s interests. Otherwise you risk becoming an irrelevant media house. Covering community stories is the way to go.
Conclusion
This calls for having more reporters/correspondents and investment in professional tools to enable your journalists get people’s voices and picture stories.
Because the media agenda eventually becomes the public agenda we (journalists) need to play our roles responsibly. Irresponsible behavior could turn catastrophic to the very development we claim to promote.