Kenya govt allows two channels to resume broadcasting


FE Team | Published: February 06, 2018 12:11:54 | Updated: February 08, 2018 10:18:30


An empty studio of the NTV channel is seen, which was shut down by the Kenyan government because of their coverage of opposition leader Raila Odinga's symbolic presidential inauguration this week.(REUTERS)

Two private Kenyan TV stations are now back on air after being shut down for seven days.

“Government switches NTV and KTN News back on after seven days,” privately-owned NTV said on its live feed on YouTube.

But the stations are only available on pay TV platforms. Two other stations - Citizen TV and Kikuyu-language station Inooro TV - remain off air, says a BBC report.

Earlier, police fired tear gas to disperse protesters in the capital, Nairobi, demanding that the government obey a court order to allow the stations to resume broadcasting until a final ruling is made.

The government shut down four private TV stations on 30 January after they failed to abide by a state-imposed ban against broadcasting the ‘inauguration’ of opposition leader Raila Odinga as the ‘people's president’.

Interior Minister Fred Matiang’i had said the TV stations would remain closed until an investigation of the media houses was concluded.

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