Earlier this year, the government selected Convergence Media, publisher of The Star newspaper, as the sole printer and distributor of the state-run MyGov newspaper for the next two years, according to a letter by ICT Ministry Principal Secretary Kisiang’ani Waswa.
The Law Society of Kenya (LSK) filed a lawsuit challenging the government’s decision to award the MyGov tender to the Star newspaper as they argued that the decision would impede media freedom and restrict public access to information, violating various Constitutional provisions.
Following this, the Law Society of Kenya has now lost round one in its battle to halt the publication and distribution of government advertisements through a weekly supplement via the Star after the High Court declined to grant conservatory orders.
When the matter came up for mention Thursday 22, Justice Chacha Mwita declined to grant the halt orders and instead directed parties to file and serve their respective responses to the petition.
Attorney Kigata, representing Star Publications Limited and Convergence Africa Media Limited, informed the court that there is an existing contract in effect, which has been operational for about two months.
He further stated that he had submitted a preliminary objection, arguing that the petition violates the constitutional doctrines of constitutional avoidance and exhaustion. These doctrines suggest that a case should not be decided based on constitutional questions if alternative resolutions are available.
Justice Mwita directed that both the preliminary objection and the submissions on the petition be highlighted on April 26.
The government has already defended its award of the tender to the Star, saying the process was above board and noting that The Star’s bid was much lower than those of its rivals.
Information and Broadcasting PS Prof. Edward Kisiang’ani said The Star’s two-year contract was worth KES 9 million per weekly edition, compared to Nation’s bid of KES 28 million shillings per weekly edition and Mediamax’s bid of KES 23 million shillings per weekly edition.
