Kenya - Media House Registration

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Procedure

Apply Online

1. Individuals intending to register a media house can do this online by visiting the Media Council of Kenya (MCK’s) Website.
2. Upon visiting the website click on the MCK’s website scroll to the bottom of the page and click on the Online Accreditation Portal icon to proceed to the accreditation portal.
3. Upon entering the accreditation portal’s homepage, click on the “Media House” tab and then choose the “New Media Houses only” option to enter the next page.
4. Upon entering the next page fill in the required information, upload the required documents, provide the organizations email address, set up a new password and click on the “submit” button.
5. A list of required documents are found in the “Required Documents” section of this page.
6. A confirmation email will be sent to the email address which provided during registration. Log into the email address and click on the verification link. The link will direct the applicant back to the media house login page where the applicant can now log in.
7. Please use the certificate number and password to log into the portal, thereafter click on the ‘Registration’ tab and select the ‘New Application’ option to enter the next page.
8. Upon entering the next page, click the “Registration” button option to continue with the registration. Fill in the required information and click on the “submit button. This will cause a profoma invoice to be generated.
9. Confirm the profoma invoice by clicking on the “Confirm” button. This will cause an invoice to be generated and listed under the Registration Tab.
10. To clear the invoice, click on the “Action” tab and select “Payment Details” then select the mode of payment.
11. Proceed to the make the subscription payment using the instructions provided in the portal. The Payment instructions will be generated and displayed automatically in the portal.
12. For M-Pesa , use Paybill number 897250 and the media house number indicated on the portal
13. For bank deposits use the slip number and date
14. For check payments enter the cheque number and date.
15. Once the payment has been made a. pdf copy of the registration certificate will be availed in the MCK account in a week’s time after verifications have been made with the MCK, a hard copy of the registration certificate can be picked in person from the Council’s Office at Britam Center, Upper-Hill, Nairobi.
16. Proof of identification will be required when collecting the employees press cards.

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Required Documents

• Copy of Certificate of registration
• KRA Pin Number
• License from Communication authority (for broadcasters only)
• List of journalists working in the organization

Office Locations & Contacts

Media Council of Kenya - Head Office
Address: Ground Floor, Britam Centre,
Mara/Ragati Road Junction,Upper Hill
P.O. Box 43132 00100 Nairobi
Kenya
Tel :+254 727 735252, +254 702 558233, +254 702 558234,+254 702 558453
MCK Website
contact details
Accreditation Portal

Eligibility

• All media enterprises operating in Kenya

Fees

• Large media house: KShs. 150,000
• Large media house (national reach): KShs. 100,000
• Medium media houses: KShs. 75,000
• Micro media houses: KShs. 50,000
• Small media houses: KShs. 20,000
• Small media houses of one media outlet and frequency radius of 40 km: KShs. 10,000
• Magazine publishers: KShs. 10,000
• Foreign media houses: KShs. 30,000

Validity

Explain the time until which the certificate/document is valid.
e.g. Birth Certificate Valid Forever

Documents to Use

Please attach documents that can be used by people. e.g. links

Sample Documents

Please attach sample completed documents that would help other people.

Processing Time

• The processing time is one week.

Related Videos

Videos explaining the procedure or to fill the applications.
Attach videos using the following tag <&video type="website">video ID|width|height<&/video&> from external websites.
Please remove the "&" inside the tags during implementation.
Website = allocine, blip, dailymotion, facebook, gametrailers, googlevideo, html5, metacafe, myspace, revver,
sevenload, viddler, vimeo, youku, youtube
width = 560, height = 340, Video ID = Can be obtained from the URL of webpage where the video is displayed.
e.g In the following url "http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y0US7oR_t3M" Video ID is "Y0US7oR_t3M".

Instructions

Please provide other instructions related to the certificate/documents.
e.g. The state office holds birth records since january 1908.

Required Information

• Name of the media house
• Date of establishment
• Certificate of incorporation number
• KRA PIN number
• Type of media
• Headquarters details
• Details of the organization's contact person
• Staff details

Need for the Document

• All media enterprises operating in the country particularly in the counties are advised to inform the Media Council of their existence and operation to ensure compliance.
• The Media Act 2013 provides that the Media Council of Kenya, the regulator of media in Kenya shall accredit all media enterprises operating in the country. Media enterprise is required a subscription fee for accreditation.

Information which might help

A foreign media house that intends to operate or establish presence in Kenya has to be incorporated in Kenya. There are two options that are available.
It can be incorporated in Kenya as;

• a locally incorporated private company; or
• registered as a branch office of a foreign company.

Different media enterprises as per MCK's categorization:

• Large media house - Five or more media outlets with regional reach and or high power frequency with regional reach
• Large media house - Five or more media outlets with national reach and or high power frequency with national reach
• Medium media houses - Two to four media outlets or medium power frequency
• Micro media houses - Two media outlets or low power frequency
• Small media houses - One media outlet
• Small media houses - One media outlet and frequency radius of 40 km
• Magazine publishers
• Foreign media houses

Other uses of the Document/Certificate

Please explain what are other uses of obtaining this document/certificate.
e.g. Birth Certificate can be used as proof of identity.

External Links

• Media House Registration
• MCK Service Charter
• Media Laws

Others

• The Media Council of Kenya is an independent national institution established by the Media Council Act 2013 for purposes of setting of media standards and ensuring compliance with those standards as set out in Article 34(5) of the Constitution and for connected purposes. The Council started as a self-regulating body in 2004 to regulate media industry in Kenya but transited through the Media Act 2007 and adopted co-regulation media regulation approach, where board members and the Secretariat while receiving government funds to support some of its activities, remain very independent in their operations and are not subject to any form of control.
• The Media Council of Kenya undertakes Annual Accreditation of journalists practicing in Kenya for purposes of compiling and maintaining a register of journalists, media practitioners, media enterprises and media training institutions in Kenya.
• One of its main aims is to improve professionalism among journalists as it ensures that all accredited journalists have the right skills to carry out their duties in a professional manner as accorded to by the Code of Conduct for the Practice of Journalism in Kenya. It also fulfills the Councils mandate to compile and maintain a register of journalists, media practitioners, media enterprises and such other related registers.