Three of Kenya’s biggest television stations will remain off-air until further notice because they had planned to broadcast the opposition leader’s unofficial “inauguration” in Nairobi.
The Interior Minister told reporters they would stay closed until investigations were complete.
NTV, KTN and Citizen TV went off-air at around 09:10 on Tuesday.
They had previously been warned not to cover the ceremony naming Raila Odinga as “the people’s president”.
According to BBC News, the Interior Ministry said in a statement circulating on social media that broadcasting the event – described as an attempt to “subvert or overthrow” the government – “would have led to the deaths of thousands of innocent Kenyans”.
However, Kenyan journalists denounced the move as outrageous and in a statement called for “respect of the constitution” and an end to the “unprecedented intimidation of journalists”.
