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- Description:
- This two-pronged study is composed of a content analysis of the Daily Nation and the Kenya Times as well as a survey of 21 journalists who work for those two newspapers. The content analysis was conducted for the November 1, 1992 to January 31, 1993 editions of both papers, excluding Sunday editions. The sampling period included the final two months of the 1992 Kenyan general elections campaign, and the month that followed it. National news, opinion, and letter pages of both papers were analyzed. The survey featured some open-ended questions and some statements to which the respondents were asked to respond on a five-point scale ranging from "disagreeing strongly" through "neither agree nor disagree" to "agree strongly". The content analysis of the papers suggests that journalists are willing to report ethnic conflicts, especially if they result in violence. They believe ethnic tensions are influential, dangerous, and often politically motivated. Neither Daily Nation nor the Kenya Times de-emphasizes articles or opinions referring to ethnicity to an extent that would suggest that ethnic concerns do not exist, or are unimportant in Kenya. Both dailies avoided treating ethnic phenomena with silence. The survey suggests that the issue of ethnicity is not ignored; however it is not treated by journalists as the essential key to understanding the country. Kenyan journalists appear to be optimistic about the resolution of ethnic conflicts, and their role in that resolution.
- Date Issued:
- 1994-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- Africa Media Review
- Description:
- The aim of the experiment is to determine whether radio can be used In Kenya in the same way as it is used in Zimbabwe in the Development Through Radio (DTR) project. In the Zimbabwean project, 10 to 20 women in each radio listening groups (RLG) gather once a week to listen to a DTR broadcast In their local language on development information for farmers; and to discuss the broadcast and raise issues to be addressed In future DTR programmes. The programmes are community-oriented and a limited number is produced by the women's groups. Preliminary results in Zimbabwe show positive affirmation of the RLGs as contributing to developmental needs of a specific community. The RLG, as it is being structured in Kenya, holds promise of being able to increase women's interest in and use of nutrition-related information in the selection and preparation of food for their families.
- Date Issued:
- 1993-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- Africa Media Review
- Description:
- Bad governance is a major contributor to poor service delivery in Africa. In Kenya, the level of accountability in the management of public affairs has consistently declined since independence. This is in spite of various legal instruments and watchdog institutions established to regulate and monitor the ethical conduct of public officials. This paper argues that the pattern of consolidation of power embarked upon by Kenya's post-colonial rulers was a major underlying factor in the deterioration of ethical standards in the public service. The construction of patron-clientilist relations were quite pronounced in this regard. The same goes for the deliberate manipulation of ethnicity. The paper concludes by advocating the adoption of a number of measures in order to enhance accountability in the public service of Kenya.
- Date Issued:
- 2003-06-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- African Journal of Political Science
- Description:
- The writer In his paper seeks to discuss the concept of press freedom and the role of the media in Kenya. The paper attempts to critically analyse a number of factors that are seen as limiting the functional roles of the media. The writer argues that there Is a direct relationship between press freedom, the roles of the media, and the nature of the government in power. The paper discusses factors that may limit press freedom and the role of the media, and it proposes some solutions to these problems.
- Date Issued:
- 1993-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- Africa Media Review
- Description:
- In the recent political transitions in Africa competitive elections have become the most critical events in the allocation of power. However, little attention has been given to the design of electoral systems, that is, the rules used to determine the allocation of parliamentary seats and of the presidential office. With few exceptions, plurality and majority systems are assumed to be the simplest, natural, and most democratic systems of converting votes into seats. This paper explores alternative electoral systems for apportioning seats in parliament and for securing the presidency. Specifically, it simulates outcomes in the 1992 Kenyan general elections using a proportional representation system in the parliamentary elections and a preferential ballot system in the presidential contest. The overriding normative goal is "fair representation," especially given ethnically-driven electoral behavior. The simulations reported here offer possible outcomes that could have emerged had different electoral rules been used in the 1992 elections. Given both the data used and the conditions prevailing in the 1992 elections, the specific outcome of each simulation is valid only as a demonstration and a discussion tool.
- Date Issued:
- 1997-06-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- African Journal of Political Science
- Description:
- This paper discusses the contribution of the mass media to the transition from single to multi-party democracy in Kenya. Considering the media as part and parcel of civil society, the author argues that access to the mass media is critical to actors involved in the politics of transition from single to multiparty democracy. However, it is postulated that the role of the media in this enterprise can be greatly enhanced by the support of other democratic social forces in society. Both institutions need each other as they try to influence the direction, pattern and issues of democratic transition. The paper also discusses the problems encountered by the media in the process of promoting democratic politics. These include the legal and political environment in which the media operate, the absence of an effective media organization to protect the interests of journalists and the tendency to disregard professionalism by the media practitioners themselves.
- Date Issued:
- 1996-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- Africa Media Review
- Description:
- Poor management, corruption and vested political interests have made Kenya's sugar industry so inefficient that the country's goal of attaining self-sufficiency in sugar production will remain unattainable for a long time. To explain the persistence of this situation, the article examines the management practice in the industry, prevailing production arrangments and the problems associated with it, focusing on the politics that pervades the entire system.
- Date Issued:
- 2001-06-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- African Journal of Political Science
- Description:
- The present study is an attempt to analyze how a British and an American newspaper covered Kenya's elections based on the premise that Britain and the U. S. have different national interests in their relationship with Kenya. The period covered is from the date the elections were announced to one month after the elections were held. There were 11 articles from the New York Times and 12 from the Guardian. Each of the papers had a reporter assigned to cover the elections in Kenya. Qualitatively, the study tries to examine the connotation of the words and phrases within the particular context they are used so as to identify recurring themes that could correspond to each of the country's perceived self-interest. The analysis is divided into two phases - the period before the elections and the period after the elections. The first was examined under two sub-themes: election fairness and stability. The specific areas that the study analyzed were sources of information, threat to stability and headlines. Findings show that the mass media have become important and powerful instruments in today's process of foreign policy formulation especially in the US and Great Britain which are driven by national self interest.
- Date Issued:
- 1994-01-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- Africa Media Review
- Date Issued:
- 1980-10-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- Critical Arts
- Description:
- Civil society comprises various interest groups such as human rights groups, co-operatives, trade unions and the church through which individuals collectively carry out their social enterprises. The rise of the centrality of civil society in much of Africa, in both development discourse and the democratization process, has been in response to state weakness. As a result it has become the cutting edge of the effort to build a viable democratic order. This paper contends that the success of civil society in forcing political concessions in Africa relates to the availability of opportunity to mobilize, agitate and bargain with the state from a position of strength. However, the notion that ageneric civil society is uniformly progressive in challenging the African authoritarian state and advancing democratization may not be accurate. This comparative study attempts to bring out the underlying similarities and differences in the contribution of the Christian church and NGOs as civil society organizations to the democratization process in Kenya and Uganda.
- Date Issued:
- 2002-12-01T00:00:00Z
- Data Provider:
- Michigan State University. Libraries
- Collection:
- African Journal of Political Science