Freedom of the Press in African Countries

As an African I am always disheartened to hear that African countries are unable to grasp the thicket idea of an ideal democracy. Democracy as we all know brings opportunities for inclusion, effective participation by all the members of a society and an equal voting right. It is democracy that brings political equality, self-determination, prosperity and avoidance of a tyranny. As a young kid growing up under the era of Kenyan one political party system I remember singing songs of praise in my boys school choir band for a government that did not cared for my self determination. A sense of constraint and veiled hostility seemed to be the norm of the Kenyan society. An intense interest of democracy aroused in the public by what was then known at the time as only “SABA SABA”. This was a bold claim and considerably a good step towards the right direction. Today the country is under a new democratically elected government. A government that I shall say failed to uphold the principal that elected it to office. The government action of burning the Standard newspaper office and closing the KTN television station was unreasonable and a threat to the freedom of the press. The availability of alternative and relatively independent alternative source of information is both an empowerment and enlightenment to the people.


Effective participation of the ordinary citizens in any government can be achieved by the availability of independent news sources. This is the only medium through which people can understand the issues of the government. By Golly I will be surprised if there is any other way the citizens can expressed their concerns or views as effective as through the media. Freedom of press as we all know means not only to be heard, but also it means to hear what others have to say about certain issues. Will the African countries survive the deep fairly critical assessment of their government or will they succumb to silencing the media? Chances are that a new democratically elected government can be turn to be an authoritative one, but it is the voice of the people that will be needed to dumb such governments in the dustbin of history! No government should address the public matters in sub rosa.