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Conference Report: Resources and Proceedings 19Kenya Television Network (KTN) became the first private TV station in Kenya when it wasallowed to broadcast in Nairobi in 1989. It is owned by the group, which runs The Standardnewspaper.Citizen TV is owned by business magnate Samuel Macharia.Recent developments and the media todayThere is still evidence of huge Government interest in regulating the media rather than promotingmedia self-regulation in line with more freedom of the press as was expected with the election ofthe present NARC (National Rainbow Coalition) Government in December 2002.Instead, there is a range of civil and criminal law statutes that supplement the constitution inseverely limiting the freedom of the press as guaranteed in section 79(1) of the current KenyanConstitution. These include:• The Penal Code, Cap 63,• Official Secrets Act Cap 187,• Defamation Act Cap, 36,• Preservation of Public Security Act cap, 57,• Public Order Act Cap 56,• Books and Newspapers Act, Cap 111,• Films and Stage Plays Act, cap222, Copyright Act, Cap 130,• Chief’s Authority Act, Cap 84,• Police Act. Cap 84 and• The Armed Forces Act, cap 1999Factors influencing media performance in Kenya are associated with political interference,patronage and bribery of journalists by certain powerful individuals.The Government in 1993 established a Task Force on Press Law to make recommendations for acomprehensive legal framework for the exercise of the freedom of the press and the developmentof dynamic and responsible print and broadcast. While the Task Force was still collecting views,the then minister for Information and Broadcasting announced that the Government hadcompleted a Press Council Bill.Indeed in 1995, information leaked to media that the Kenya Mass Media Commission Bill (1995)and the Press Council Bill (1995) were to be tabled in Parliament by the Attorney General andthey were hastily withdrawn.The Task Force submitted its report to the Attorney General in 1998 but it is yet to be acted on.The Kenya Union of Journalists and the Media Steering Committee also presented media bills tothe AG but no action has been taken so far.The most important benchmark for evaluating media freedom in a country is Article 19 of theInternational Convention on Civil and Political Rights but in contrast to the convention, theKenya Constitution falls short of the standards not only with regard to providing for the right toreceive and impart ideas of all kinds and protecting it, but more in terms of recognizing the rightsof media organizations. This is made worse by the provisions of the Official Secrets Act whichseverely limits the extent to which the media and the general public may access and publishinformation in relation to the Government.