The Impact of Freedom of the Press on Human Development in Kenya

Political Security and more so the general Human Security theme has been a yardstick upon which all Human Rights and Freedoms are founded. Freedom of the Press has increasingly become a useful metric to gauge states’ progress on the Political Security theme evident by annual ranking of countries on Freedom of the Press by international organizations such as Reporters Without Borders and annual reports such as Freedom House. Kenya has made significance strides on the Freedom of the Press evident on the Constitution of Kenya, 2010 (Articles 33-35), there are however notable concerns that rise doubts on the progress of this right such as government coercion and predatory government act against specific media houses. This paper recommends strengthening the implementation of existing laws, among them the Whistleblower Act to support journalists in their work, to ensure adequate protection in the event of disclosure on issues of public interest.