According to The Daily Nation, Kenya’s leading daily newspaper, one of the main contributions the Kibaki regime made was to nurture greater freedom of expression 4. Kibaki’s presidency, lauded the wider democratic space achieved in the last five years.
4 The Daily Nation, 29 December 2007: ‘Kibaki’s greatest legacy is freedom of expression.’ħIn December 2007, the media, which plays a major role in providing checks and balances against M.They appealed for dialogue and national unity. Reading the gravity of the postelection violence, the main media houses made a concerted effort to promote responsible journalism. As the violence progressed in the Rift Valley, they repeatedly exonerated the political community. It was felt that propaganda and ethnicisation of issues were the driving force in strategies to gain mass support. Nevertheless, it was felt that there was balanced coverage and his two main opponents-Raila Odinga of the Orange Democratic Movement (ODM) and Kalonzo Musyoka of the Orange Democratic Movement-Kenya (ODM-K)-were given ample publicity.ģSince November, the media fraternity in an act of condemnation spearheaded by the press strongly denounced the strategies used by the two rival camps PNU and ODM. Kibaki, the Party of National Unity (PNU) candidate, seemed to receive more media coverage than his adversaries by virtue of being the sitting president. The print media presented a platform for debate, where political activists and the civil society engaged each other in discussing key issues on the political agenda (devolution of power, tackling corruption, etc.). Strategically placed in both occasions, it ably performed the double task of keeping the public well informed of the political events as they unfolded and at the same time condemning wrongs by the political elite.ĢIn its functional role as a civic educator, factual reporting took centre stage especially during meetings and rallies.
1The Kenyan media played an instrumental role both during campaigns leading to the country’s general elections in December 2007 and the ensuing political mess that the country was plunged into following the disputed re-election of President Mwai Kibaki.
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