Exactly one year from today, you will get a chance to perform a noble duty afforded by our Constitution.
Thousands of polling stations across the country will open at 6am to make possible your right to vote in new leadership.
When exercised in the right manner, regular democratic elections give a country the chance to rejuvenate. New leaders come up with new ideas that have the potential to transform a society’s social and economic wellbeing.
On the flipside, poor choices at the ballot have the potential to set a country many decades back through vices such as corruption and plunder of state resources, as well as inept leadership.
Today, exactly one year before Kenyans go to the polls, Nation Media Group formally launches its coverage of the August 10, 2027 General Election.
On that second Tuesday in the month of August next year, Kenyans will get to directly exercise their sovereign power through the ballot. Their votes will determine who will exercise public authority, manage public resources and make decisions affecting the lives and livelihoods of millions of citizens, including those who will not go to the polls.
As an independent media house that strives to safeguard the public interest, covering the election for Nation Media Group is a solemn public responsibility. It goes beyond the daily reporting of campaign rallies, opinion polls, political manifestos and results of the elections.
Interrogate promises
Millions of Kenyans will rely on our websites, newspapers, television and radio stations, and social media platforms to understand the choices before them. They will expect us to separate fact from propaganda, interrogate promises, scrutinise records and provide credible information upon which they will hope to make informed decisions.
We recognise the immense responsibility that comes with this expectation, and we accept that call of duty. Our unwavering pledge is that our full allegiance will be to the people of Kenya.
Guided strictly by our Editorial Policy, which is publicly available on our website for everyone to read and against which our journalism may be judged, as well as the laws of the land, our reportage will not be beholden to any candidate, political party, coalition, government, commercial interest or other centre of power. Our professional and moral compass will remain the public interest.
We will be impartial to all aspirants who seek to sell their ideas, project their personalities, track records and visions for the country. Our responsibility will not be to choose on behalf of Kenyans. It is to give citizens the information they need to make that choice themselves.
We will therefore strive to cover the election fairly, accurately, objectively and impartially. We will seek to provide equitable coverage while recognising that fairness does not necessarily mean mechanically allocating identical space or airtime but is also anchored on the news value.
Our journalists will ask difficult questions of every candidate. No candidate will be above scrutiny, and none should be denied a fair hearing. Our journalism will distinguish between reporting and opinion, by clearly labelling and demarcating our publications and broadcasts. Where we make mistakes, we will correct them promptly and transparently.
The election must be about Kenyans. We intend to look beyond the political theatre.
Food security
NMG’s Decision 2027 will put citizens and the issues affecting their lives at the centre of our journalism. What are candidates proposing to do about the cost of living? Where will jobs come from for the millions of young Kenyans entering the labour market every year? How will the country manage its public debt? What is the future of healthcare and education? How will Kenya improve agricultural productivity and food security? What are the solutions to corruption, insecurity, inequality, climate change and the pressures facing our cities and communities? And, crucially, are the promises being made realistic, affordable and measurable?
We will travel beyond political podiums to farms, factories, universities, hospitals, markets, informal settlements, businesses and homes. We will listen to Kenyans and demand answers from those seeking their votes. We will hold duty bearers accountable.
The media’s responsibility during an election goes beyond merely to providing a microphone to those seeking office, and requires that we must interrogate power.
Those who currently hold public office must account for their stewardship. Those seeking office must demonstrate that they understand the responsibilities they wish to assume. We will examine records against promises. We will interrogate manifestos. We will scrutinise public spending and investigate abuse of public resources.
We will ask candidates not simply what they promise to do, but how they intend to do it, how much it will cost and who will pay for it.
Accountability is an essential requirement of democracy, and all contestants must be ready to be answerable to the electorate.
We will confront electoral malpractice.
Free and fair elections cannot flourish where voters are intimidated, bribed or prevented from exercising their democratic rights.
NMG will expose and condemn electoral malpractice wherever credible evidence establishes that it has occurred.
We will shine a light on voter bribery, violence, intimidation, misuse of public resources, political goonism, hate speech and attempts to interfere with the lawful administration of elections.
We will not normalise these practices as inevitable features of Kenyan politics.
Political competition must never become a licence for violence.
We urge candidates and their supporters to conduct themselves peacefully, respect their opponents and allow citizens to make their choices without coercion.
We will confront misinformation and disinformation.
The 2027 election will unfold in an information environment radically different from previous elections.
Artificial intelligence can now produce convincing fake photographs, audio and video within minutes. False information can reach millions of people before professional journalists have had an opportunity to establish the facts.
This presents an extraordinary challenge.
Our commitment is clear: we would rather be right than first.
Verification will be central to Decision 2027. We will strengthen fact-checking and authentication across our platforms and will call out deliberately manipulated information when we identify it.
Democracy suffers when citizens cannot distinguish truth from fabrication.
We will defend the integrity of the vote.
The Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission carries the constitutional responsibility of conducting and supervising elections.
Our responsibility is different but equally clear: to independently observe, interrogate and report the process.
We will report results accurately and responsibly, relying on official electoral information and rigorous verification. We will explain the processes through which votes are cast, counted, transmitted and declared.
We will scrutinise the performance of electoral institutions without seeking to replace them.
Where legitimate questions arise, we will ask them. Where allegations are made, we will seek evidence. Where disputes occur, we will explain the constitutional and legal mechanisms available for resolving them.
We will neither manufacture a crisis nor conceal one.
Kenya is bigger than an election. Elections are fierce competitions. Democracy, however, requires us to remain a nation after the votes have been counted.
We therefore reject journalism that deliberately inflames ethnic, religious, regional or other divisions for audiences or political advantage.
Our platforms will not knowingly provide sanctuary for hate speech or incitement.
We will amplify the voices of women, young people, persons with disabilities and communities whose concerns can too easily disappear beneath the noise of national politics.
Above all, we will remember that behind every statistic, constituency and electoral calculation are Kenyan citizens whose lives will be affected by the decisions made at the ballot box.
This pledge is not a claim that we will always get everything right.
It is a commitment to the standards by which we invite Kenyans to judge us.
Hold us accountable for fairness. Challenge us when you believe our journalism falls short. Point out our mistakes. Engage with our reporting. Demand evidence from us just as we demand evidence from those seeking public office.
Over the next year, political temperatures will rise. Alliances will shift. Accusations will fly. Promises will multiply. Propaganda will intensify.
Through it all, our responsibility must remain constant.
To seek the truth. To verify before publishing. To give contestants a fair hearing. To interrogate those who seek power. To expose wrongdoing without fear or favour. To put citizens and their concerns at the centre of the national conversation.
