The Star launches on the web

Just in time for the election in Uganda, the Star in Nairobi has launched its website. The Star began as a competing daily to the Nation and Standard and to the other tabloids during my time in Nairobi. It quickly became a necessary political news read. Its launch on the web is a big step forward for Nairobi and Kenya as a regional media and communications hub, and a step forward toward a future of more accountability and better governance through greater openness. And a better media through competition.

The more outlets, the harder it will be for the Government of Kenya to suppress the news.

Upcoming–the new attempt to revive draconian regulation of the Kenyan media before the 2012 campaign.

Here are three columns that deserve your attention in understanding the current state of play in Kenya:

Jerry Okungu–“Kibaki Has Soiled Nominee’s Names”

Wycliffe Muga–“Kibaki’s Delimna Over His Legacy”

Mugambi Kiai–“Deconstructing ‘servant leadership'”

Coverage of Kenya’s Constitution Campaigns

Nick Wadhams in Time has a good overview.

In the Star courtesy of the Mars Group media pages Wycliffe Muga suggests that William Ruto’s role as a “no” leader reflects his strategic plan to establish himself as political boss of the Upper Rift Valley rather than a serious expectation of actually defeating the proposed constitution.

In this month’s free article, Africa Confidential says “Campaigning for next month’s constitutional referendum is a mixture of ideology, religion and personal ambition – and now the thugs have moved in”.

Mugambi Kiai writes in the Star (via Mars Group): “It is so easy to miss the obvious. There is so much shouting around narrow sectarian issues that the massive gains in the proposed constitution are hardly getting any airtime” and goes in to detail several of the governance reforms.