Kenya’s earliest newspaper was established in 1902, a time before the country’s name was conceived, and when the region was still a protectorate. Nonetheless, the realities of colonialism were already setting in. With time, a resistance emerged. As some Kenyans took up arms to fight for freedom, others wielded pens, sharpening their words into weapons of knowledge.
The latter contributed to the popularity of newspapers as tools used by freedom fighters and colonialists alike to agitate for independence and spread propaganda respectively.
These histories are best captured through story. #MagazetiYetu is a Paukwa story series that chronicles the early days of Kenya’s media industry, highlighting pre-independence newspapers, their editors, their audiences, and their role in the march to uhuru.
