The irony in Ndugai bunge live launch in Kenya
National Assembly Speaker Job Ndugai (centre) displays Kenya’s Annual Performance Reports of the National Assembly Committees in Nairobi on Thursday. Left is his Kenyan counterpart, Mr Justin Muturi, and Kenyan deputy Speaker, Mr Moses Cheboi. PHOTO | BUNGE OFFICE
Mwanza. The launch of Kenya’s parliamentary committee sittings, which would now be televised live, was graced by Tanzania’s National Assembly Speaker Job Ndugai, igniting a debate from a cross-section academics, politicians, media and communication experts in the country.
Speaking yesterday to The Citizen on different occasions, some academics, politicians and media moguls expressed that the incident was supposed to serve as a lesson to Speaker Ndugai himself, CCM legislators, the government and all Tanzanians in general, saying Bunge to be shown live on TV was important. “By launching the sittings of Kenya’s Parliamentary committee live on TV is a sign, message and testimony that it is a good thing and Speaker Ndugai himself likes it,” said Deodatus Balile, the acting chairman of the Tanzania Editors Forum (TEF).
“By the authority vested on him as Speaker, he (Ndugai) should help Bunge sessions be broadcast live again,”
Mr Balile’s statement was echoed by former TEF chairman Absalom Kibanda who asked Speaker Ndugai, government leaders and authorities that oversaw and implemented the process of blocking Bunge sittings to be shown live on TV not to feel shy to backtrack on their decision.
“Our leaders made a mistake not to televise live Bunge sittings. I will be surprised if they don’t reconsider reversing the decision….even Nape (Nape Nnauye, former minister for Information, Culture, Arts and Sports) if he is asked today, he may admit making the mistake. We need to correct ourselves,” said Mr Kibanda.
On the participation of Speaker Ndugai in launching Kenya’s parliamentary committee sittings live on TV, Kibanda said, “I’m not defending Speaker Ndugai…but I believe he has felt bad and disgraced himself for launching Kenya’s parliamentary committee sittings live on TV, whereby the Kenyans reported widely when Tanzania’s Bunge sessions were blocked to be shown live on TV.”
“The Kenyans have decided to humiliate us in this thing by making our Speaker launch Kenya’s parliamentary committee sittings live on TV,” Kibanda added.
