NMG's Churchill Otieno retains top post at Kenya Editors' Guild

Kenya Editors’ Guild President Churchill Otieno.

Photo credit: File | Nation Media Group

What you need to know:

  • KEG is a non-profit organisation that brings together senior editors of print, broadcast and digital media as well as academics in the sector.

Nation's Media Group's Head of Development and Learning, Mr Churchill Otieno, has been re-elected president of the Kenya Editors' Guild (KEG).

Mr Otieno won his second and final two-year term.

The 2021 presidential and council elections took place during the annual general meeting held virtually on Saturday. 

Zubeida Koome, a senior new anchor on Standard Group's KTN channel was elected the vice president.

She beat the incumbent vice president Samuel Maina, editor-in-chief of the Kenya Broadcasting Corporation.

Nation Media Group’s Executive Editor Pamela Makotsi-Sittoni was re-appointed a trustee of the council alongside Mr Arthur Okwemba (Africa Woman and Child Feature Service) and Mr Martin Masai (Eastern Broadcasting Corporation).

Council members

Joseph Bonyo of Citizen TV was elected the council member for TV, having defeated Sammy Muraya, while Ruth Nesoba, a senior broadcast journalist at the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC), will represent radio after retaining her position unopposed.

Ms Linda Bach of the Standard Group is the new Print representative in the KEG executive council after beating Ms Evelyne Kwamboka, while Prof George Nyabuga will hold office on behalf of the academia.

Following the election, Mr Otieno vowed to lead the team to protect freedom of the media and of expression, as well as to stand for the independence of editors in the execution of their duties.

"I thank editors for their confidence and for placing a strong team in office. Together we shall stay the course - promoting professional excellence and defending media freedom," he said.

KEG's mandate

KEG is a non-profit organisation that brings together senior editors of print, broadcast and digital media as well as academics in the sector.

The professional body is involved in promoting standards of journalism, continuous training, protecting the independence of media, advising members on issues of practical and ethical concern and engaging various stakeholders among other roles.

KEG also represents members’ interests in all matters of editorial and professional concern and interest.

In the AGM report, the President said the executive council embarked on important projects to ensure impactful journalism in the Kenyan media.

“First, in partnership with WAN-Ifra, Media Freedom Programme, we sponsored a financial study on the media industry, spanning 2009-2019, to draw out any insights for the future,” said Mr Otieno.

The Chief Executive Officer Rosalia Omungo said the guild will continue working to address the welfare of members as well as the media profession. “As KEG moves towards a strategy for the continuous professional development, the Innovation committee is steering the development of the policy while the Strategy committee that takes care of members welfare, is looking into it to ensure that it is structured in editors’ best interest.

“In a bid to get to the bottom of the matter of dipping revenues for newspapers and the impact of disruption, KEG in partnership with World Association of News Publishers (WAN-Ifra) commissioned a financial consultant to assess the disruption and propose a way forward for media industry to thrive post pandemic,” said Ms Omungo in a statement.