Freedom of the Press - Kenya (2002)

Status: Not Free
Legal Environment: 24
Political Influences: 21
Economic Pressures: 22
Total Score: 67

Population: n/a
GNI/capita: n/a
Life Expectancy: 48
Religious Groups: n/a
Ethnic Groups: Kikuyu (22 percent), Luhya (14 percent), Luo (13 percent), Kalenjin (12 percent), Kamba (11 percent), Kissi (6 percent), Meru (6 percent), other Arican (15 percent), Asian, European, and Arab (1 percent)
Capital: Nairobi

Although Kenya's colonial-era sedition laws were repealed in 1997, President Daniel arap Moi's ruling KANU party has warned that Moi would not tolerate "insults from the press." The Official Secrets Act, the penal code, and criminal libel laws restrict press freedom. Numerous cases were brought against journalists for defamation. The country's few private radio and television stations are either pro-Moi or carefully apolitical. Private print media are vibrant, although they face government harassment. A new media law proposed at the end of the year would appoint a government censor to monitor the media and require registration of publications through an exorbitant fee. Another act would license television programs and advertisers.