Moses Kuria unfit to hold office: opposition says, calls for his dismissal
Trade Cabinet Secretary Moses Kuria.
Pressure is mounting on Trade Cabinet Secretary Moses Kuria to quit office with the Opposition calling for him to be declared unfit to hold office.
Nairobi Senator Edwin Sifuna has called on the Senate to find Kuria unfit to hold an office of high calling at the level of a cabinet secretary.
In a planned censure motion before the Senate, the ODM Secretary-General wants the Senate to resolve to censure the CS over his attacks on the media.
Mr Sifuna also wants President William Ruto's government to be compelled to state that CS Kuria's utterances are individual and personal views not representative of the official policy of the Kenya Kwanza regime.
"We want an assurance to be made to the media in this country that their freedom as enshrined in the Constitution shall be safeguarded regardless of their opinions and views on national issues," said Mr Sifuna.
The Senate deputy minority whip expressed concern that Kuria's reckless tongue has now reached an unmatched level of infamy in the country, adding that his divisive, abusive and demeaning rhetoric continues to cause consternation.
He said that the CS has chosen to run a vendetta against the Nation Media Group for its perceived failure to echo the regime's lies and false promises.
The MP added that on the same day, the CS went on his verified social media accounts to post a screenshot to celebrate a drop in the share price of the NMG.
"An attack on one media house, as history has shown in other jurisdictions, often leads to attacks on press freedom as a whole," said Mr Sifuna.
"CS Kuria, having established himself as the loose tongue of the government, may indeed be speaking the official position of his government."
He said Article 34 (2) of the Constitution enshrines the freedom of the press by stating that the State shall not exercise control over or interfere with any person engaged in broadcasting, production or circulation of any publication or circulation of any publication or dissemination of information by any medium or penalise any person for any opinion or view or the content of any broadcast, publication or dissemination.
The Senator said the media has remained an integral partner in the liberation, democratisation and governance history of the country since independence, and whose freedom has been a catalyst to the growth of nearly all sectors of the economy by providing timely and sound information.
"Indeed, we have been the envy of our neighbours in the region by the robustness and boldness of our media, a hard-earned conquest that we do not take for granted," he said.
