afrol News, 30 January - The African Editors' Forum (TAEF) has dispatched a petition to Kenya's political leaders, expressing disgust over how "the behaviour of the marauding squads of killers tarnish our name as Africans."

"We believe both President Kibaki and Raila Odinga should exercise leadership and bring the mayhem to an end. And if they cannot, they should step aside and allow a new interim structure to emerge that would calm the situation and bring Kenya back from the abyss it is in," TAEF Chairman, Mathatha T-sedu, writes.

He said the present situation was a far cry from the "buoyed mood" prevailing in Kenya in November when the editors' body held its congress there.

T-sedu wonders why Kenyans' political dream has turned into an unending nightmare of violence that spares no sectors of the society, including journalists.

He says it the body's responsibility to reflect the reality on the ground, and our Kenyan brothers and sisters have been doing an excellent job in telling the unfolding story.

"But it is a story we should not tell, because it should not be happening. The barbarism that has emerged in Naivasha and Nakuru and the slums of Nairobi, and the militias that are now the new law, are an indictment to both President Mwai Kibaki and Raila Odinga."

However, the forum leader calls on both leaders to recommit to respecting the rights of their own people, allow people to execute their duties professionally and immediately lift restriction on live broadcasting.

African leaders expected to meet in Ethiopia have been reminding to be sensitive to the horrendous situation next door and make their voices heard loud and clear about "wanton abuses of human rights by Kenyan authorities."

The forum also calls on the AU to reiterate its long-standing position of freedom of the media, especially the rights of journalists to execute their duties in situations of conflict without hindrance.

"TAEF and its members remain committed to tell the African story in its glory and its goriness as evidenced by the unfolding situation in Kenya . No amount of intimidation and abuse is going to stop us from reporting the truth as we see it, as that would amount to censorship."

TAEF's dispatch came on the heels of death threats received by five leading Kenyan journalists. It also happened after an assassination of an opposition parliamentarian, Mugabe Were, in the capital Nairobi.

"These threats must be taken seriously because the killers have already followed through on their threats once with an opposition legislator," complaints Reporters Without Borders.

"Kenya's journalists have behaved very responsibly since the start of the unrest and we will not stand for their being treated like this. We express our solidarity with those who have been threatened and their fellow journalists."

Claiming to come from the Mungiki, an underground Kikuyu sect feared for its barbaric murder styles, the message reads: "today we invaded Woodley Estate. You are going to see what happens to you."

By staff writer

© afrol News

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