NAIROBI, Kenya – The High Court has ruled against ICT Principal Secretary Edward Kisiang’ani, declaring his directive to monopolize government advertisements through the Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC) unconstitutional.
The ruling, delivered by Justice Lawrence Mugambi, struck down a memo issued by Kisiang’ani in March last year, which had awarded KBC an exclusive contract to handle all government advertisements—effectively shutting out private media houses from government-funded campaigns.
The case was filed by the Law Society of Kenya (LSK), the Kenya Editors Guild (KEG), and the Kenya Union of Journalists (KUJ), who challenged the directive as unlawful and a threat to media freedom.
In his judgment, Justice Mugambi ruled that Kisiang’ani had no legal authority to dictate where government advertisements should be placed, describing the move as an unlawful assumption of power.
“The PS unlawfully appropriated himself inexistent powers. He did not have the authority to issue such a directive, rendering his actions null and void,” he said.
The ruling further found that the memo violated key constitutional provisions, including Article 10 on good governance and Article 27 on equality and non-discrimination.
By forcing all ministries, state agencies, commissions, and public universities to exclusively air advertisements on KBC, the memo unfairly sidelined private media houses.
“The exclusion of private media from government advertising and the indirect control of public information through a single broadcaster cannot withstand constitutional scrutiny. It is harmful,” Justice Mugambi stated.
The judge also noted that the move undermined media freedom as protected under Article 34 of the Constitution, warning that such policies could have dangerous implications for press independence and fair competition in the media industry.
The ruling comes amid ongoing criticism of the government’s media policies, particularly after Kisiang’ani recently cancelled an offer to the Standard Media Group to run a campaign for the launch of the National Irrigation Sector Investment Plan (NISIP).
This decision was seen as part of a wider strategy to centralize government communication, a move that has alarmed media stakeholders and press freedom advocates.
Following the ruling, media industry leaders welcomed the decision as a significant victory for press freedom and fair competition.
LSK, KEG, and KUJ argued that the government’s attempt to limit media access to public advertising funds was not just an economic issue but a fundamental threat to democratic principles.
