The Kenya Union of Journalists (KUJ) has raised concern over what it terms as growing violations of labour rights in the media industry, even as the union held its Annual General Meeting that saw the election of new national officials.
Speaking during the Kenya Union of Journalist Annual General Meeting in Nairobi on Saturday, the Union’s Secretary General Eric Oduor noted that journalists and media personnel have continued to face intimidation and arrests linked to smear campaigns that criminalised union membership.
Oduol accused some media houses of publicly advocating for human rights while allegedly violating the rights of their own employees.
The union said it would pursue action to recover salary arrears owed to both current and former employees.
During the AGM, members also elected new board officials, with three Kenya Broadcasting Corporation staff members securing positions.
Other officials elected in today’s AGM include; Ahmed Mohamed (Chairman), Silas Kiragu (Vice-Chairman), Vincent Owino (Deputy Secretary General), Toepister Nabusoba (Treasurer), Kwamboka Oyaro (Organising Secretary), Rose Nganga (Assistant Treasurer).
The elections were presided over by Assistant Labour Commissioner Grace Mwereza.
In his acceptance speech, Mr Oduor thanked members for trusting him with the leadership of the Union and vowed to continue for fighting for the rights of journalists.
Mr Oduor said KUJ will work with other stakeholders to prepare journalists to cover next year’s general elections to ensure Kenyans are feed with accurate and timely information.
“We have entered into election season that requires the media to be well prepared in order to provide timely and verifiable information to the public. Together with partners in the Kenya Media Sector Working Group, we have put in motion plans to renew the MoU between the media and Independent Electoral Boundaries Commission to facilitate timely information sharing. This will set the stage for development of Election Preparedness Plan to be launched later this year after consultation with all stakeholders, among them media owners, Kenya Editors Guild and Media Council of Kenya,” he said.
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