Kenya: Pundit blog blocked-ONI
January 1, 2008
[FACT comments: Ory Okolloh is a Kenyan blogger and former student at Harvard University’s Berkman Institute for Internet and Society. His blogsite, Kenyanpundit, has been blocked by the Kenyan government leading up to general elections. All of us are proud of where we live; this has nothing to do with nationalism, patriotism or love of our king. We choose to live here precisely because we think it’s the best place for us to be. Ory chose return to Kenya over life in the US. His government should be treating him as a hero instead of a criminal!]
Kenya: Pundit blog blocked
OpenNet Initiative
As some of you might know I’ve been pretty much the only source of credible information about the election situation in Kenya over the last few months, and more especially since a media blackout was imposed by the government (no live broadcasts, no news, nothing!)
The country is on fire and we have no idea what the government is doing to clamp protests down and how many people have been killed. After the blackout, blogs and SMSs have been pretty much the only source of information for Kenyans both inside and outside Kenya.
Late night I asked my readers to send me whatever information /news they have in
the comment section so that we could keep the news flowing. When I woke up this morning to moderate comments and write a post I was unable to do any admin on Kenyan Pundit (note the Swiftkenya details even though I’m hosted in the States).
I never thought I would ever witness this in Kenya and be the subject of censorship – in fact every time I spoke about blogging in Kenya I was proud of the fact that the government has stayed away from bloggers. Now I have been shut down (well they think they can shut me down).
Kenya is now officially under a police state and I’m not sure how much coverage this is getting internationally, and I’m not sure how long it will last.
Please spread the word internationally and take up our cause as Kenyan bloggers and citizens – I refuse to be cowered by fear and intimidation.
Hopefully internet and mobile access won’t be next.
In shock,
Ory Okolloh
<http://www.kenyanpundit.com>)
Skype (okolloh)
p.s. if anyone knows how I can get back up, tips will be appreciated.
