Its effect will be to force some of the major broadcasters to surrender frequencies already in their possession. “All licensees, except the public broadcaster, shall not be assigned more than one broadcast frequency for radio or television broadcasting in the same coverage area,” according to the draft rules. Frequencies assigned to a public broadcaster for use in public broadcasting shall not be transferred to a third party, according to the proposals.
On ownership, the rules stipulate that any change in shareholding exceeding 15 percent of the issued capital of a broadcasting company can only happen with prior consent of the market regulator (CCK). Controversially, the CCK proposes to vet programme content, which hitherto, has been left to self-regulation by the Media Council of Kenya. Broadcast content is usually regulated by codes of ethics and editorial guidelines promulgated by individual media houses. Offensive language, blasphemy and sexually explicit matters will now be offences punishable by the regulator.
New provisions have also been introduced to regulate children programming in a bid to protect the young from harmful effects of television. It will be an offence to conduct an interview with a minor without the consent of the parent or guardian. Standards of news reporting are also now being prescribed. The principle of the right of reply, fairness and impartiality, will now be prescribed in written law, and breaches punished by the regulator.
