New president set to file charges against two leading newspapers

The two articles published details of a court hearing held in mid-March during which Kibaki’s lawyers argued that the president cannot be sued for debt incurred before taking office and asked that his name be removed from the suit. The lawyers also asked court officials to force the newspapers to reveal the stories’ sources. The judge in the case has not yet ruled on these motions.

The two newspapers stand by their articles, saying they reported “matters that were factual, evidential and legal,” according to an April 8 report in the Nairobi-based Daily Nation.

“This is an unsettling development in a country whose newly elected leader ran on a platform of supporting press freedom,” said Joel Simon, the acting director of the Committee to Protect Journalists. “We urge President Kibaki to abandon these charges immediately, and to ensure that all Kenyan journalists are free to report on matters of public interest without fear of reprisal.”