The Kenya News Agency (KNA) is a government-run national news agency created in 1963. [1] Its headquarter is in Nairobi and it is run by the Department of Information, Ministry of Information Communication and Technology. News reports are created by KNA reporters in 72 county and sub-county offices and disseminated from the National Editorial Desk (Press Office) in Nairobi to subscribers made up of news media companies in Kenya and around the world. Their services also include Electronic/TV News Unit, Mobile Cinema and Photographic Services. [2]
The work of the Kenya News Agency as a national news gathering operation began decades earlier with the Kenya Information Service (KIS) formed in 1939 to disseminate information on World War II. [3] In 1945, after the war, the service changed its name to the African Information Service (AIS) and it served as an information unit mainly for the white settlers of the colonial British government. [4]
Between 1953 and 1954 the African Information Services became the Department of Information with the appointment of the first Director of Information and the first press officers. The new Department consisted of several sections – Administrative, African, Press, Films and Photographs, Provincial Organizations and Information and Reference. [5] It was administered from the Office of the Chief Secretary, at the time Richard Turnbull. The Department of Information served mainly as a propaganda machine especially during the state of emergency between 1954 - 1960. [6]
In 1962 in the lead up to independence, the Department was moved to the Ministry of State for Constitutional Affairs and Administration under then Hon. Mr. Ronald G. Ngala. On December 5, 1963, the Kenya News Agency was created. On December 12, 1963 Kenya attained self-rule and the Office of the Prime Minister was established with Hon. Mzee Jomo Kenyatta as the first Prime Minister of Kenya. Kenyatta convened his cabinet with the Hon. R. Achieng Oneko as the first Minister for Information, Broadcasting and Tourism. The Ministry's functions then included Information Service (including Publications & Photographic Services) and the then newly created Kenya News Agency and Press Office. [7]
As a state-owned agency the Kenya News Agency was expected to project a positive image of Kenya and promote the work of the Government. [8] With a national network, the Agency was initially the primary source of news report from outside the capital Nairobi, but as the road networks expanded and internet infrastructure improved, access to the rural areas became easier and more affordable for private sector news organisation to send their own reporters to cover news outside Nairobi.
In 2016 Kenya News Agency made its historic image collection (more than 50,000 images) available online through a public portal Urithi. [9] Urithi also includes audio and video content sourced from the Kenya Broadcasting Corporation.
The Kenya News Agency has in the past produced the following publications: [10]
Kenya maintains relations with various countries around the world. Its closest ties are with its fellow Swahili-speaking neighbors in the African Great Lakes region. Swahili speaking neighbours mainly include countries in the East African Community such as Burundi, the DRC, Rwanda, South Sudan, Tanzania and Uganda.
Nairobi is the capital and largest city of Kenya. The name is derived from the Maasai phrase Enkare Nairobi, which translates to 'place of cool waters', a reference to the Nairobi River which flows through the city. The city proper had a population of 4,397,073 in the 2019 census. The city is commonly referred to as The Green City in the Sun.
The Kenya African National Union (KANU) is a Kenyan political party that ruled for nearly 40 years after Kenya's independence from British colonial rule in 1963 until its electoral loss in 2002. It was known as Kenya African Union (KAU) from 1944 but due to pressure from the colonial government, KAU changed its name to Kenya African Study Union (KASU) mainly because all political parties were banned in 1939 following the start of the Second World War. In 1946 KASU rebranded itself into KAU following the resignation of Harry Thuku as president due to internal differences between the moderates who wanted peaceful negotiations and the militants who wanted to use force, the latter forming the Aanake a forty, which later became the Mau Mau. His post was then occupied by James Gichuru, who stepped down for Jomo Kenyatta in 1947 as president of KAU. The KAU was banned by the colonial government from 1952 to 1960. It was re-established by James Gichuru in 1960 and renamed KANU on 14 May 1960 after a merger with Tom Mboya's Kenya Independence Movement.
Uhuru Muigai Kenyatta is a Kenyan politician who served as the fourth president of Kenya from 2013 to 2022. The son of Jomo Kenyatta, Kenya's first president, he previously served as Deputy Prime Minister from 2008 to 2013.
Thomas Joseph Odhiambo Mboya was a Kenyan trade unionist, educator, Pan-Africanist, author, independence activist, and statesman. He was one of the founding fathers of the Republic of Kenya. He led the negotiations for independence at the Lancaster House Conferences and was instrumental in the formation of Kenya's independence party – the Kenya African National Union (KANU) – where he served as its first Secretary-General. He laid the foundation for Kenya's capitalist and mixed economy policies at the height of the Cold War and set up several of the country's key labour institutions. Mboya was Minister for Economic Planning and Development when he was assassinated.
Kenyatta University (KU) is a public research university with its main campus in Nairobi, Kenya. It acquired the status of university in 1985, being the third university after University of Nairobi (1970) and Moi University (1984). As of October 2014, it was one of 23 public universities in the country.
Corruption in the government of Kenya has a history which spans the era of the founding president Jomo Kenyatta, to Daniel arap Moi's KANU, Mwai Kibaki's PNU governments. President Uhuru Kenyatta's Jubilee Party government, and the current William Ruto's Kenya Kwanza administration has also been riddled with massive cases of graft, topping in the list of corrupt Presidents in Africa
Egerton University is a public university in Kenya. It is the oldest institution of higher education in Kenya.
Bethwell Allan Ogot is a Kenyan historian and eminent African scholar who specialises in African history, research methods and theory. One of his works starts by saying that "to tell the story of a past so as to portray an inevitable destiny is, for humankind, a need as universal as tool-making. To that extent, we may say that a human being is, by nature, historicus.
John William Arthur was a medical missionary and Church of Scotland minister who served in British East Africa (Kenya) from 1907 to 1937. He was known simply as Doctor Arthur to generations of Africans.
Alberta Arnolda "Betteke" van Ruler is emeritus Professor of Communication Science at the University of Amsterdam.
Dejan Verčič is a communication researcher and public relations theorist.
Kenya Civil Aviation Authority (KCAA) is a state corporation of Kenya that is responsible for regulating the aviation industry in Kenya and for providing air navigation services in the Kenya flight region.
Newspapers published in Nigeria have a strong tradition of the principle of "publish and be damned" that dates back to the colonial era when founding fathers of the Nigerian press such as Nnamdi Azikiwe, Ernest Ikoli, Obafemi Awolowo and Lateef Jakande used their papers to fight for independence.
Orders, decorations, and medals of Kenya are awarded by the President of Kenya "in recognition of outstanding or distinguished services rendered to the nation in various capacities and responsibilities". Awards are made by the president upon the advice of a National Honours and Awards Committee in the president's office. Individuals are nominated for awards by district committees, government ministries, religious organisations, non-governmental organisations, individuals and others. The Chief of the Order of the Golden Heart is the highest honour awarded by the Kenyan government.
The following is a timeline of the history of the city of Nairobi, Kenya.
India–Kenya relations are bilateral diplomatic relations between the Republic of India and the Republic of Kenya.
LGBT history in Kenya has been characterized by religious and colonial influences. Interactions with traders along the Indian Oceanic coastline introduced Islamic religious doctrine against homosexuality. European explorers and British colonial rule incorporated the influence of Christianity. After gaining independence in 1963, the Kenyan government has remained hostile to the LGBT community. But in the 21st century, LGBT organizations advocacy organizations have formed.
Esther Koimett, is a Kenyan public-servant experienced in investment promotion, banking, privatisation, public enterprise and public policy. She is presently the Principal Secretary State Department Of Broadcasting And Telecommunication, Ministry of ICT, Innovation and Youth Affairs following her appointment by former president Uhuru Kenyatta in January 2020 . Prior to her appointment in the ICT docket, Esther served as the Principal Secretary, State Department for Transport, Ministry of Transport, Infrastructure,Housing, Urban Development & Public Works since her appointment in August, 2018.
Monica Kathina Juma is a Kenyan diplomat who currently serves as National Security Advisor to President William Ruto. She previously served as the Cabinet Secretary for Defence in the cabinet of President Uhuru Kenyatta.