KCA Challenges Legality of Media Council Board Re-Appointments
Nairobi, August 2, 2025 — The Kenya Correspondents Association (KCA) has raised alarm over the recent re-appointment of four Media Council of Kenya (MCK) board members, terming the process illegal and unconstitutional.
In a strongly-worded statement issued on August 1, KCA questioned the decision by ICT Cabinet Secretary William Kabogo to re-appoint the former board members for another three-year term through a gazette notice. The association contends that the move bypasses the legally mandated selection process, which had been stalled by court cases but has since resumed following a judicial resolution.
KCA, a stakeholder in the selection process as outlined in the Media Council Act 2013, insisted that a previously constituted selection panel—established under former ICT CS Eliud Owalo—should be allowed to conclude the vetting process that it had already initiated. The four re-appointed individuals, according to KCA, were among applicants whose interviews had been conducted before the process was suspended by the courts.
“The Ministry is required by law to act on recommendations from the selection panel. Any other process is not only illegal but mischievous,”
the KCA statement read in part.
The association further accused unnamed individuals within the Media Council Secretariat of lobbying and attempting to influence the nomination of a new panel, calling such actions an effort to manipulate the outcome of the process. KCA vowed not to nominate any representative to the newly proposed panel or recognize the re-appointed members until a consultative meeting with stakeholders is held.
KCA Vice Chairperson Irene Nasimiyu, who signed the statement, urged the Ministry to cancel the gazette notice and halt efforts to set up a new panel, warning that failure to do so would amount to state capture of the media regulatory body and a violation of Article 34 of the Constitution, which guarantees media freedom.
The association called on other stakeholders in the media industry and civil society to resist attempts to undermine the independence of the Media Council, warning that the current trajectory risks reversing decades of progress made in achieving a free and self-regulating media landscape in Kenya.
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