Kenya News Agency (KNA)

Kenya News Agency (KNA) was established in 1963 as a news media with a mission to build the then nascent Kenyan nation.


Media assets

News agency: Kenya News Agency (KNA)

State Media Matrix Typology: State-Controlled (SC)


Ownership and governance

KNA is an agency owned by the government and run as a unit of the Department of Information at the Ministry of Information, Communications and Technology. KNA’s management is appointed by the ministry usually from people who have worked in the civil service.

Source of funding and budget

KNA is wholly funded by the government, receiving a state allocation through Parliament, according to local experts and journalists. Information about the size of the KNA’s budget is not available.

Editorial independence

As a government entity, KNA toes the ministry line in its reporting of government  events and pronouncements in a positive light. The agency’s mission is to report on the government’s policies, projects, programs and initiatives.

The appointment in October 2023 of a new head of the Directorate of Information, Joseph Kipkoech, is expected by local journalists to bring significant changes to the country’s media and to influence the operation of KNA.

Kipkoech said that he wants to help KNA modernize to a level comparable with international news agencies. Local journalists interviewed for this report in October 2023 say that they expect Kipkoech to also bring more editorial freedom at KNA.

No statue and no oversight or assessment mechanism to validate KNA’s editorial independence have been identified.

October 2023