The right to know: The foundation of a free press
by admin on | 2026-10-06 07:46:20
Share: Facebook | Twitter | Whatsapp | Linkedin Visits: 24
The history of press freedom in Kenya has been told through struggles against censorship, journalist detention, publication bans and other methods by which governments have sought to discipline an inconvenient press. The Constitution of Kenya 2010 changed that landscape. It also sharpened a question too often lost when press freedom is discussed only in terms of publication: what use is the freedom to publish if the information needed to hold the government to account remains beyond the journalist’s reach? Press freedom is not exhausted by the absence of censorship. It depends upon the ability of journalists, editors, researchers and citizens to seek, receive, verify and communicate information on matters of public concern. It requires an environment in which reporters can investigate without intimidation, media houses can operate independently, sources can speak without fear, and public institutions recognise that information held on behalf of the people is not their private possession. This question has become more urgent in an age overwhelmed by misinformation, disinformation, artificial intelligence and the speed with which falsehood acquires the appearance of truth. The temptation may be to answer those problems through more regulation of speech. But a democratic society should begin elsewhere: by ensuring that reliable, verifiable information held by public institutions is available to citizens and journalists, and by protecting the serious, independent journalism through which that information is tested and explained. Our Constitution provides the foundation. Article 35 gives every citizen the right of access to information held by the State and, where necessary for the exercise or protection of a right, information held by another person. Article 35(3) requires the State to publish and publicise important information affecting the nation. Read together with Article 34, which protects the freedom and independence of electronic, print and other types of media, these provisions recognise that press freedom an access to information are inseparable. A journalist who is free to publish but unable to obtain the records upon which responsible reporting depends enjoys a freedom diminished in practice. The media cannot properly scrutinise public expenditure, investigate maladministration, test official claims or explain the consequences of public decisions where the documents, data, reasons and records behind those decisions are withheld without lawful justification.
