Kenya’s press has long been known for its independence. Even before multiparty democracy was restored in the 1990s, the Guardian, a British daily, declared it (perhaps a bit breathlessly) sub-Saharan Africa’s “only truly free press”. Recently, its leading titles have been especially critical of William Ruto, Kenya’s president. Last year one pronounced his government a “Rogue Regime” on its front page.
Now the press in Kenya, and across east Africa, face a shake-up. On March 10th Rostam Azizi, an industrialist and former ruling-party MP from Tanzania, bought a controlling stake in the Kenya-based Nation Media Group, one of Africa’s largest media empires and a font of relatively independent journalism since its founding in 1959. Mr Azizi, who describes himself to The Economist as a “great believer in print media”, promises to safeguard the group’s editorial independence while transforming the company for the future. Can he deliver?
It will not be easy. The Nation group, which owns dozens of newspapers, TV stations and radio outlets in the region, reported pre-tax losses and declining revenue in 2023 and 2024 (the latest year for which there is data). Young Kenyans increasingly get their news from social networks such as YouTube and TikTok. Mr Azizi says he will invest millions of dollars in the group. Caving to political pressure from governments would be an act of commercial self-harm, he says: “I don’t think a newspaper can survive if it is not credible, reliable and fair.”
The Aga Khan, the late leader of Ismaili Muslims and the Nation group’s former owner, was renowned for his skill in keeping politicians “off his back”, notes George Nyabuga of the Aga Khan University in Kenya.
But this became increasingly tricky after Mr Ruto took office in 2022 and began pushing back against the Nation’s investigations into corruption. “Every day we have requests from State House to take something down,” says a senior company insider. (Mr Ruto has claimed that his government criticises the press only to ensure they are not “biased”.) In Uganda, Nation reporters were barred from covering President Yoweri Museveni’s events during his re-election campaign last year.
The Committee to Protect Journalists, a watchdog, recommends that to allay concerns Mr Azizi introduce binding editorial charters, among other reforms. Yet critics worry that his other business interests in east Africa may depend on warm relations with increasingly autocratic governments, prompting him to pull his punches. “Give him the benefit of the doubt and measure him on what he does,” says another company insider. “But it’s a tall order.”■
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