NUJ Europe is proud to identify with the most challenging facts emanated from the speech of President Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya during the 2015 CNN Multichoice African Journalist Awards event on Saturday, 10th, October 2015 at the Kenyatta International Convention Centre, Nairobi.
President Kenyatta called on "African journalists to lead in projecting positive picture of the continent instead of dwelling on the negative."
He further stressed that, "we (Africans) depend on the African journalists to change the mental maps that lead us astray."
"I also challenged the media to embrace the tenets of good journalism and portray the accurate picture of Africa."
Uhuru Kenyatta's Speech at the 2015 CNN Multichoice African Journalist Award
"Ladies and gentlemen, distinguished guests,
I know you’re waiting for me to talk about hotbeds, but I won’t. Not today.
''A few days ago, I was fascinated to learn that researchers, confirming ancient wisdom, have discovered that African elephants have elaborate mental maps — mental pictures of their domains.
''They show a superb ability to remember where there’s water, shade and pasture. If they get their mental map of the terrain wrong, or if they forget where they are, they risk death.
''We are in equal need of accurate mental maps of our world. The accuracy of our picture of reality depends on sound information and analysis. Like the elephant, we need to learn and remember faithfully:
if we don’t, we can’t hope to escape or recover from the disasters that have befallen the continent in the past.
''In large part, you members of the fourth estate draw our mental maps of Africa. You tell us what matters, and how to understand it.
''Let’s look at the pictures you drew this week. Iglanced at a global newspaper:
its Africa headlines were the coup in Burkina Faso, a bombing in Nigeria, crimes in Mali and the latest about Ebola. This came just after the UNDP report assessing Africa’s progress in meeting the Millennium Development Goals, which showed very encouraging progress:
Child mortality rates fell by an average of forty percent in Africa in the period under review as did poverty in most African countries while improving women’s access to political leadership faster than any other region on earth. Why exaggerate African failure? Why ignore African success?
''It’s not surprising that foreigners get our story wrong. The plunder and subjugation of Africa were justified by its misrepresentation as the home of outrage, atrocity and suffering.
''The world beyond our shores has yet to escape those patterns of thought. What is surprising is that we too get our story wrong. I looked at a respected African newspaper, and it was equally negative, and equally prone to feeding the same old tired stereotypes. Indeed, the coverage of terrorist attacks — whose point is usually pain, panic and publicity — on Charlie Hebdo, or London,or New York on 9/11 respected the dignity of the victims.
''We saw no images of dead or mutilated bodies in the mainstream media. But our coverage of African tragedies often disrespects and devalues African lives. I recall an African newspaper that led with the photo of a Westgate victim; and another in which the bodies of the Mandera victims took centre stage. If we cannot respect the dignity of Africans, who will?
''There is an Africa that is dignified. There is an Africa that was afflicted by Ebola, just as there is an Africa, backed by the African Union, which gave its skill, its time and its money to save lives. There’s an Africa at war, but African peacemakers in AMISOM are ending some of our most intractable conflicts.
''There is darkness on the continent, and yet, in the last two years, Kenya has connected 14,000primary schools to electricity; and 97% of Kenyan primary schools are therefore now lit. There is an Africa working to perfect its democracy, and there is the Africa that has undergone the quickest democratization in history.
''I have heard of an Africa that is hopelessly dependent on aid and charity; but the Africa Iknow has some of the world’s fastest-growing economies powered radical transformation in technology and billions dollars of investments in infrastructure. I know that it is the innovation, resilience and sacrifice of millions of Africans that is lifting millions of our people out of poverty.
''Stereotypes have an amazing ability to destroy our ability to see the facts; we who love Africa must stand up for her truths.
''Ladies and Gentlemen,
''What do headlines tell us daily about the crisis inEurope of migrants from Africa and the Middle East? ''When these suffering people travel across the Mediterranean, they become migrants. When they enter Kenya, they are refugees. Kenya, which has hosted over a million refugees from Somalia, is criticised for seeking their repatriation back to homes that our soldiers have helped secure at great cost. Meantime, European nations close their borders, and we are told that their security and cohesion demand it.
''These justifications seem to apply only outsideAfrica, for Kenya’s decision to close its borders was represented as a wholly unnecessary assault on the human rights of vulnerable people.
''We need to look calmly at the facts. African countries with scarce resources lead in taking in refugees: of the ten countries which host most refugees relative to their size, four are African, more than any other continent.
''This is a story of African solidarity and resilience. If you brought these facts to light, and gave them proper weight in your analyses, we would all be better placed to take up our collective obligations to refugees.
''In truth, we depend on you African journalists to change the mental maps that lead us astray.
''Imagine coverage that had told of African leaders’ warnings about the risks of state failure and terrorism before the Libya intervention; and examined the African Union’s plan to fulfil Libya’s desire for democracy in an orderly fashion. It might have saved thousands of lives. Instead, these efforts were caricatured and ridiculed, and intervention was declared the only option.
''This time, with your help, Africa can represent itself aright. You who stand with us here can honour the struggles and heroes of the African past by looking carefully, and speaking truthfully, about our continent — by giving us accurate maps of African reality. That’s why our meeting today is cause for celebration. I see here distinguished journalists who have served Africa well.
''One of our judges today is Ferial Haffajee, who with others, led a campaign to bring antiretroviral to some of the most vulnerable South Africans. It is the blunt truth that her journalism saved lives. We also have with us Joel Kibazo, a veteran journalist who wrote about African businesses and businessmen when few global outlets had any time for African business or entrepreneurs.
''And I should mention Murithi Mutiga, who recently published a deeply researched and informative piece on Kenya’s green energy revolution, which brings power to some of the most marginalised among us. So, today, we celebrate these men and women, and all of you who uphold the highest standards of your profession. When those high standards are the norm, we will reclaim the African narrative.
''We must: after all, the stakes are our freedom, and the safety and the prosperity of the world in which we live.
''Thank you and God Bless you.''
Put together by Lashley Oladigbolu, the Acting President of NUJ Europe.
Credit: Government Of Kenya.
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