Nairobi — Kass FM is back on air - but with a string of conditions. Its owner and chief executive C.K. Joshua signed an undertaking to record broadcasts for at least 90 days.

The station went back on air at 11.13am, 42 hours after the Government order shut all its broadcasts for seven days from 5.10pm on Wednesday.

It was also ordered to submit recordings of transmissions for the preceding 21 days.

"From now on," Information and Communication minister Raphael Tuju wrote, "every media house will play by the same 90-day rule and take full responsibility for utterances made through their stations, including those made by politicians or the public during the popular call-in programmes."

The minister then directed the Communications Commission of Kenya (CCK) to record broadcasts by all FM stations for the next five days.

And he warned: "Where a station is found to be engaging in a hate campaign, the Government will not hesitate to close it down.

"Where a station feels it is not able to manage any hate messages coming from politicians or listeners, then it is recommended that the recording of programmes for screening is done before broadcast."

He then gave the reasons for the station's sudden closure, saying Kass FM's broadcasts in Kalenjin were alleged to have incited violence.

The communiqué and the decision to lift the ban were communicated to Kass by Mr S.K. Kibe, a CCK official.

As the reinstatement was made, the station's general manager, Mr Joseph Towett, said the reasons given for the closure were vague.

The decision was communicated as Kalee Ltd, the holding company, was preparing to go to court for a review of CCK's decision.

The company was still consulting its lawyers on a legal action against the Government, said Mr Towett.

At the station's offices in Hurlingham, employees broke into song and dance when the decision was communicated.

The reopening was welcomed throughout the Rift Valley, which forms most of the station's audience.

Police headquarters has established a "listening post" to monitor broadcasts.

The centre, on the fifth floor of Vigilance House, is stacked with radios, television sets and other electronic devices, manned by a team of officers trained on media and communication from the General Service Unit, the CID and the regular police.

The officers write reports on programmes that radio and TV stations relay to the public, including programmes in vernaculars.

The emphasis is on broadcasts touching on the Monday referendum.

The establishment of the monitoring centre is among the measures police are taking in preparation for the final referendum rallies at Nyayo Stadium and Uhuru Park on Saturday.

All media houses will cover and announce the results freely without any interference, the Electoral Commission of Kenya said yesterday.

Chairman Samuel Kivuitu told journalists he would ensure no one stopped them from updating their audiences on the latest results.

The ECK boss told the CCK that it had overreacted by temporarily closing Kass FM.

He took issue with the commission for taking action before issuing a warning to the managers or consulting with his commission, which had the legal mandate to conduct the referendum.

Said Mr Kivuitu: "We believe the media must not be used to promote violence or hatred, but at the same time, the CCK erred in taking the unilateral decision before consulting with us."

The ECK will be holding a meeting this morning with media managers on how to cover the referendum.

Reports by Mugumo Munene, Peter Ng'etich, Dominic Wabala and Odhiambo Orlale