Nairobi - Kenya’s Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph Nkaissery late on Thursday sided with the online community of his countrymen in attacking the global US-based television network CNN for calling Kenya a “hotbed of terror”.
At a news conference held at his office in Nairobi, the minister noted that even though Kenya had suffered multiple attacks by al Shabaab, the al-Qaeda-linked militants from neighbouring Somalia, the suggestion that the country was in the league of Iraq and Afghanistan was wrong.
“It demonstrates heightened irresponsibility by the media network and smacks of arrogance,” said Nkaissery, as the Kenyans on Twitter (KOT), a digital community swarmed to the attack in patriotic fervour with a hashtag #SomeoneTellCNN.
“I take this opportunity to condemn this negative campaign by CNN and strongly protest at what is becoming a pattern of an anti-Kenya propaganda by CNN,” Nkaissery said.
He stressed that Kenya was exposed to terror “like any other country in the world”, and that the numerous attacks were as a result of its proximity to Somalia. “While these attacks are tragic and unacceptable, they do not turn Kenya into a ‘terror hotbed’, as alleged by the CNN,” the minister said.
Asked if he was demanding an apology, Nkaissery said CNN would and should apologise “if they are civilised enough”.
“I therefore take this opportunity to commend Kenyans for their patriotism, urge them to treat the CNN report with the contempt it deserves, and to stand proud at this historic moment for our country,” the minister concluded.
But online, #SomeoneTellCNN was trending worldwide with the digital community sometimes getting cheeky, with some saying that the “only hotbed” they knew of was the one that “produced” the man who would later become the President of the US - a reference to the ancestry of US President Barack Obama.
Politicians, governors, and opinion leaders in Kenya played on the hashtag to show their excitement at the return of Obama. Billionaire Kenyan businessman Chris Kirubi tweeted: “Unless you are the one bringing the terror, we are a hotbed of investment opportunities & great people”.
A former comptroller for State House during the administration of retired Kenya President Daniel arap Moi and who also served in the Cabinet in the last government - 2008 to 2013 - Franklin Bett also weighed in with a touch of nationalism. “The 1998 terrorists (sic) attacks in Nairobi and Dar [es Salaam Tanzania], were on American facilities with Kenyans being collateral damages (sic)!” Bett tweeted.
The topic was so hot that Zain Verjee, a former CNN anchor of Kenyan decent, chose to explain to Kenyans what the problem at the international broadcaster was. “Africa is still perceived by the majority of US writers and producers as a dangerous place, that it’s all pretty much the same. The images of violence and attacks don’t help the standard narrative.
“We (Africans) need to change this perception so words like “hotbed” are not the immediate Kenyan association in newsrooms,” said Verjee in a blog. She added a little advice to the foreign journalists who have flocked in to cover the Global Entrepreneurship Summit in Nairobi this weekend.
“Please. Kenya is not a hotbed of terror. We are not Iraq, Afghanistan or Libya. We have some major security problems. Very serious. Yes. I am not side-stepping that. I have covered many attacks myself. The security issue should be covered, criticised, and the security apparatus’ effectiveness questioned. Terrorism has been awful for Kenya, and for our tourist industry.
“But during the Obama trip, also leave a few minutes or 30 seconds before a break or a kicker to show some cool Kenyans doing cool stuff, spotlight the innovation; humour; technology; the style, creativity and the vibrant political debate. Lots of awesome stuff is going on. It’s not a whitewash. It’s the real other side of the story that does not get told in a 90 second piece or three minute live interview,” Verjee said.
The source of the storm was a strapline on CNN International and an article by CNN’s Pentagon Correspondent Barbara Starr about security fears on the Obama trip. “President Barack Obama is not just heading to his father’s homeland, but to a region that’s a hotbed of terror,” Starr wrote.
CNN later posted this Editor’s note: “The headline and lead of this article has been recast to indicate the terror threat is a regional one.”
Nkaissery was so happy with the online community and the digital lynching of CNN that he forgot that KOT has also been very critical of his own leadership role in handling the country’s security.
ANA