After setting up an Nairobi office in early 2008, Article 19 now issued the first newsletter of a monthly newsletter series on media developments and freedom of expression in East Africa.

Article19 Newsletter

This month has certainly been busy for the staff at A19 in Nairobi, Kenya. At the forefront of the month’s agenda has been the implementation of The Kenya Communications (Amendment) Act1. Where does A19 come in? Well, in Kenya there are between four and six dominant media groups which hold most of the broadcast frequencies and radio stations posing a threat to the plurality and diversity of Kenyan voices and opinions heard over our airwaves. The Kenya Communications (Amendment) Act aims at tackling this problem as well as the issue of lack of regulation of the ICT sector.

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A new report entitled: Public Broadcast Services in Africa Series has urged the government of Zimbabwe to commit to media reforms. Citing the highly controversial Access to Information and Protection of Privacy Act (AIPPA), which established the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Commission, a body that has immense power to make or break all media in the country; the report, launched in Zimbabwe’s capital, Harare, urges the government to place top priority in ensuring that: ‘Laws inhibiting the free operations of the media are repealed without delay.’

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