Kenya

Kenya, an East African country of approximately 58.6 million people, operates one of the more constrained state media architectures in the region, a function of the comparative strength of the country’s private media sector rather than of a small communications state apparatus. The press freedom framework rests on the Constitution of Kenya 2010, which guarantees freedom of expression (Article 33), media freedom and independence (Article 34), and the right of access to information (Article 35). These constitutional protections are operationalised through the Media Council Act 2013, which established the Media Council of Kenya (MCK) as an independent statutory regulator, and the Kenya Information and Communications (Amendment) Act 2013, which set up an independent broadcasting framework administered by the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA). However, the 2018 Computer Misuse and Cybercrimes Act has been used by successive administrations to criminalise journalistic activity, with sentences of up to 10 years’ imprisonment and fines of approximately €40,000 for the dissemination of “fake news” likely to incite violence, a provision that civil society organisations including Article 19 have repeatedly challenged.

State media in Kenya is concentrated in two outlets: the Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC), the national public broadcaster established under the Kenya Broadcasting Corporation Act (CAP 221) and operating Channel 1 television, Heritage TV, Y254, the Radio Taifa and KBC English Service radio networks, and ten commercial regional FM stations; and the Kenya News Agency (KNA), the official state news service founded on 5 December 1963, one week before independence, and operating as a section of the Directorate of Information and Broadcasting Services within the State Department for Broadcasting and Telecommunications. Both outlets sit under the Ministry of Information, Communications and the Digital Economy (MICDE), restructured by President William Ruto’s first Executive Order (No. 1/2022, October 2022) into two State Departments: Broadcasting and Telecommunications (PS Prof. Edward Waswa Kisiang’ani) and ICT and the Digital Economy (PS Eng. John Tanui). The Cabinet Secretary is William Kabogo Gitau (since 17 January 2025). Kenya’s vibrant private media landscape, dominated by Royal Media Services (Citizen TV, Kameme TV, 14 radio stations), Nation Media Group (Daily Nation), Standard Group, and Mediamax, substantially outweighs the state’s footprint, an institutional balance that distinguishes Kenya from most countries in the SMM dataset.

The 2024–2026 period has been defined by sharp deterioration in press freedom under the Ruto administration. Kenya fell from 69th to 116th in the Reporters Without Borders 2026 Press Freedom Index (a 47-place slide between 2022 and 2026), placing the country in the “difficult” category. The June–August 2024 Gen Z anti-tax protests triggered an unprecedented crackdown on independent journalism: the Communications Authority of Kenya imposed bans on live broadcasts of demonstrations; NTV journalist Mercy Koskei was shot three times while reporting in Nakuru on 16 July 2024; veteran journalist Macharia Gaitho was briefly arrested in Nairobi the following day; and on 5 March 2025, four journalists, including NTV’s Leah Wambui Kurema, were attacked while covering protests in Nairobi’s Majengo area. The October 2022 murder of Pakistani journalist Arshad Sharif in Kajiado further heightened concerns about journalist safety. Both KBC and KNA have consistently mirrored government framing of the protest cycle, presenting demonstrations through the official lens of “criminal infiltration” of legitimate concerns. KBC additionally faces an existential financial threat from a long-running London Court of International Arbitration case brought by Dubai-based Channel 2 Group, where the Auditor General’s July 2025 review confirmed potential liability of approximately KSh 304 billion (US $2.36 billion), roughly 17 times KBC’s total assets.

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