Telephone
and Telecommunications
Since
1977,
when the
East African
Community
was disbanded,
the Ministry
of Communications
and Power
has handled
national
and international
postal
and telecommunication
services.
Recent
decades
have
seen
a dramatic
expansion
of telephone
services.
In 1970
there
were
0.69
telephones
per
100
people
in Kenya,
mostly
in urban
areas.
Rural
areas
were
far
less
well
served,
with
only
seven
telephones
per
10,000
people.
During
the
1970s,
Kenya
undertook
a program
to reduce
the
disparity
between
urban
and
rural
communications
which
involved
modernizing
existing
facilities,
as well
as opening
170
new
post
offices
and
providing
telephone,
telegraph,
and
telex
offices
in under-served
areas.
By the
end
of the
decade,
there
was
one
post
office
for
every
22,900
inhabitants,
compared
to one
for
every
28,800
at its
beginning.
A
major
telecommunications
development
project,
funded
by the
World
Bank,
introduced
international
subscriber
dialing
in late
1984.
Exchange
lines
quickly
rose
from
70,000
to 106,000.
Kenya's
telecommunications
are
undergoing
privatization;
soon
the
Kenya
Posts
and
Telecommunication
Corporation
will
be turned
over
to private
ownership.
The
number
of telephone
in 1989
was:
337,000
telephones
69 persons
per
telephone.
The
phone
traffic
(in
millions
of calls)
in 1989
was:
Local:
5,737
Long
Distance:
6,799
International:
15,776.
Postal
Service:
There
are
853
post
offices
handle
over
210,639,000
pieces
of mail
in 1986.
Radio,
Television,
and
Film:
Radio
broadcasting
was
conducted
by the
Voice
of Kenya
until
it was
replaced
in 1989
by the
Kenya
Broadcasting
Corporation.
It produces
and
broadcasts
programming
in Swahili,
English
and
in 18
ethnic
languages.
In 1989,
there
were
13 people
per
radio
receiver.
Kenya
has
two
television
stationsthe
government
operated
KBC
(Kenya
Broadcasting
Corporation,
formerly
the
Voice
of Kenya)
and
the
KTN.
They
produce
news
shows,
situation
comedies,
broadcast
music
performances
and
bolster
their
local
programming
with
shows
from
England
and
the
United
States.
The
Nation
Group
has
been
given
a broadcasting
license
and
may
soon
begin
broadcasting.
Kenya
had
six
television
transmitters
as of
1987.
In 1989,
there
were
119
people
per
television
set.
Publishing
and
Press:
In the
1980s
and
early
1990s
the
press
was
under
government
attack.
Journalists
and
editors
were
harassed,
arrested,
and
detained
for
writing
and
publishing
views
critical
of the
government
or favorable
to the
opposition.
With
muli-party
politics
there
has
been
a lifting
of censorship
and
an expansion
of published
media.
However,
the
quality
of the
new
print
media
varies
greatly.
There
are
currently
five
daily
newspapers
published
in Kenya
with
a total
circulation
of over
280,000.
Two
of the
papers,
Kenya
Times
and
Taifa
Leo
(published
in Swahili)
are
operated
by KANU.
The
Daily
Nation,
with
the
largest
circulation
of 165,000
is an
independent
paper
operated
by the
Aga
Khan
Nation
Group
that
maintains
a high
level
of reporting
quality.
Other
dailies
include
the
Standard
and
Kenya
Times.
In addition
to the
daily
newspapers,
there
are
12 weekly
and
40 monthly
publications
on a
variety
of subjects
from
law
reviews
to erotica.
One
example
of a
popular
monthly
magazine
is Drum.
On the
cover
there
is a
beautiful
girl
and
features
include
erotic
stories,
advice
columns,
humor,
and
social
interest
stories.
Kenya
has
a healthy
book
publishing
industry
with
over
933
first
editions
published.
Other
Statistics
Telephones:
357,251
(1989
est.)
Telephone
system:
in top
group
of African
systems
domestic:
primarily
microwave
radio
relay
international:
satellite
earth
stations2
Intelsat
(1 Atlantic
Ocean
and
1 Indian
Ocean)
Radio
broadcast
stations:
AM 16,
FM 4,
shortwave
0
Radios:
NA
Television
broadcast
stations:
6
Televisions:
260,000
(1993
est.)
Source:
CIA
World
Fact
Book
For
Further
Reading:
Maja-Pearce,
Adewale.
The
Press
in East
Africa:
Kenya,
Uganda,
Tanzania.
London,
1992.