All Jubilee MPs will no longer appear on live TV and radio shows following a gagging order issued by State House on Tuesday during a Parliamentary Group meeting.
Further, the Jubilee allied politicians will not respond to enquiries or make public pronouncements without prior consultation with State House.
“As you might have noticed, we are not talking to the media as per the instructions given to us by his Excellency the President and Deputy President,” a Jubilee MP told the Star and requested for anonymity for fear of reprisal.
The MP intimated that they have clear orders that they should have permission from the Presidency before they appear for live TV shows.
“He [Uhuru] was categorical that the caveat must be respected at all cost,” he said adding the President was tough on his words and demanded that everyone toes the line or he ships out.
“We are in dilemma even when we feel we have strong and persuasive views we want to articulate. We are missing a lot on constructive public discourse.”
Any MP or Senator allied to Jubilee will now be required to seek authorization from National Assembly Leader Aden Duale and his Senate counterpart Kipchumba Murkomen before appearing for any talk show on TV or radio.
Instead, county commissioners will grace radio shows where they will articulate government agenda.
This move has been seen as a strategy to establish and maintain a straight communication line in government.
In the run up to August 8 polls, MPs and Senators allied to the ruling coalition were frequent guests in TV and radio shows.
They were vocal in articulating government agenda in the last four years.
The President and his Deputy William Ruto also appeared severally in live TV interviews articulating the agenda for the country as well as their achievements in the last four years.
A senior Jubilee leader in Parliament said the ruling party’s change of public engagement policy was geared towards cooling political temperatures following a lengthy period of divisive politics.
“We have done that because we feel that as Jubilee our priority is not to respond to allegations being thrown left, right and centre. We want to be coherent in our communication,” said the Jubilee leader in Parliament.