Former People Daily managing editor, Maina Muiruri, named as MCK chair

Veteran journalist and former People Daily managing editor Maina Muiruri is the new Media Council of Kenya (MCK) chairman.

In a Kenya Gazette notice published on Friday, ICT Cabinet Secretary Joe Mucheru on Thursday appointed Muiruri and eight council members for a period of three years. The chair will have a deputy to be picked by MCK members.

Other board members are Standard Media Group senior parliamentary writer Roselyn Obala, Baraka FM managing editor Susan Karago, Kenya National Commission on Human Rights assistant director Patience Nyange and IEBC Corporate Communication manager Tabitha Mutemi.

Also on thee board are former Nation Media head of content Tim Wanyonyi, Corporate Counsel Dr. Davidson Mwaisaka, Dr. Stanley Njoroge (lecturer) and Government Advertising Agency director Gwaro Ogaro who was retained from the previous board.

The board has been reconstituted after a three-month hiatus since the expiry of the former team's term.The delay was caused by a court case filed by the Consumers Federation of Kenya that wanted interviewing of applicants stopped, citing alleged irregularities in the procedure.

Over two weeks ago, the court declared the interview panel chaired by Kenya Union of Journalists secretary general Erick Oduor as duly constituted and within the law and ordered the process to be completed within seven days.

Maina, now a journalism lecturer with a media career spanning over 25 years, was picked out of nine applicants to chair the board, whose secretary is MCK chief executive David Omwoyo.

The board, whose eight council member seats attracted 33 applicants, will for the first time feature seven media practitioners.

Former chairman Dr. Julius Kinyeki, a governance expert who took over after the exit of Charles Kerich to Nairobi County, presided over a team that had a lawyer, a banker, a teacher and a theologian.

The Media Council Act under which the council is established does not restrict council positions to media practitioners.

Muiruri's team comes into office at a time when Omwoyo is leading the secretariat in rolling out the  2018-23  Strategic Plan that aims at achieving milestone goals for the media regulator.