Lawyers Donald Kipkorir and Ahmednasir Abdullahi‏ speak of Daily Nation’s refusal to publish Larry Madowo’s article

Larry Madowo was shocked after Daily Nation refused to publish his opinion piece. Nation’s refusal comes after government crackdown on ‘errant’ media houses.

Surprisingly CNN picked Madowo’s opinion piece and published it after Daily Nation refused. The article titled ‘Why it’s a perilous time to be a journalist in Kenya’ addresses the intimidation of journalists by the government.

Larry Madowo, Ken Mijungu and Linus Kaikai were to be arrested by police for speaking against media shutdown in the wake of Raila Odinga’s swearing in.

“This week, the @dailynation refused to print my column for the first time in nearly 4 years. The irony aside, the same piece is now published on CNN,” wrote Larry Madowo.

Reactions

Larry’s opinion piece has elicited mixed reactions. There are those who patted him on the back while others think he shouldn’t question his employer.

Lawyer Donald Kipkorir congratulated Larry for standing up to his employer. He says Nation’s refusal to publish his article only opened doors of opportunity for Larry.

“One ill-advised local administrative act has given you global opening … As they say, when one window closes, a door opens … LM, you belong to the World, not a Village they want to pigeon you,” Donald Kipkorir tweeted.

Uhuru’s lawyer Ahmednasir Abdullahi however had no nice words to tell Madowo. He says Larry is not a self respecting journalist and should resign from NMG for passing a vote of no confidence in his employer.

“That is a vote of no confidence by your employer…and any self respecting journalist (and you are undoubtedly one) will have no option but resign from the employment service of such an employer,” Ahmednasir Abdullahi tweeted.