Kenya - Media Council of Kenya - Service Complaints

Advertisement

Procedure

Apply In-Person

1. Individuals can raise complaints against a journalist in person, by visiting the Media Council of Kenya (MCK) offices .The contact information of the MCK offices can be found in the “Office Location & Contact” Section of this page.
2. Here the applicant will be given an Public Complaint Form to fill and submit. The application form can also downloaded from the MCK’s official website through the following link .
3. Fill in the application form and attach the required documents. A list of the required documents is mentioned in the “Required Documents” section of this page.
4. Submit the completed application form and all the required documents to the Media Council Of Kenya (MCK) Offices for processing of your application to begin. The complaint will be forwarded to the Committee of handling Complaints.
5. Once the complaint has been processed the Media Council of Kenya (MCK) will contact the complainant to about the result of his compliant.

   • This process usually completed after a period of seven days.
   • If the complaint is not resolved within 7days, it shall be forwarded to the Council’s Public Complaints Handling Committee (“the Committee”) for further investigation and action.

6. The Chairperson of the Committee handling the complaint shall communicate the action to the complainant and update records. If the complainant is not satisfied the decision of the Committee they shall forward the case in writing to the Chief Executive Officer (C.E.O) for further action as necessary and records updated.

Advertisement

Required Documents

• ID card of complaint
• Press card of the journalist (if availablke)

Office Locations & Contacts

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

Eligibility

• Everyone is eligible for this service

Fees

• This service is free of charge

Validity

• The validly of the results of this service is as long as the complaint remains open.

Documents to Use

Public Complaint Form

Sample Documents

Please attach sample completed documents that would help other people.

Processing Time

• The processing time is immediate.

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

1. Mode of reporting
2. ID Number
3. Gender
4. PWD Status
5. Mobile
6. Email
7. Type of complaint

Need for the Document

• It helps individuals to raise complaints’ to the MCK on misconducts or unethical practices of journalists.

Information which might help

1. Any person who wishes to present a complaint to the Council regarding any practice by an Officer of the Council is strongly advised to fill in the prescribed form in addition to forwarding any complaint letter/document(s).
2. The complainant should fill the form and send its original copy to the Chief Executive Officer (CEO).
3. Information provided on the prescribed form is confidential and will only be used by the Media Council of Kenya (“the Council”) in an authorized manner. The Council may pass on the details of a complaints to other government agencies where appropriate for further action/investigation.
4. Any Council officer receiving a complaint whether oral or written shall record the details in the departmental complaints register.
5. If the complaint is simple, the receiving officer shall resolve the complaint immediately and update the register.
6. If the complaint is moderate or major it shall be escalated to the immediate supervisor for further investigations and resolution, as per the Council’s Service Charter and the complaint register updated in hard copy or soft copy as necessary. If the complaint is not resolved within 7days, it shall be forwarded to the Council’s Public Complaints Handling Committee (“the Committee”) for further investigation and action.
7. The Chairperson of the Committee (“the Chairperson”) shall communicate the action to the complainant and update records. If the complainant is not satisfied the decision of the Committee they shall forward the case in writing to the Chief Executive Officer (C.E.O) for further action as necessary and records updated.
8. All Heads of Departments/Managers shall forward the complaint registers to the Chairperson on a quarterly basis for analysis.
9. The Chairperson shall collate all the complaints and forward them to the Committee through the Secretary on or before the quarterly meeting
10. The Committee shall be expected to prepare a report including the following details as per the Commission on Administrative Justice (CAJ) complaints handling reporting template:

    • Date the complaint was received;
    • Complaint channel;
    • Name of the complainant;
    • Complaint issue;
    • Action taken;
    • Root cause;
    • Corrective action taken to resolve the complaint;
    • Status - this should state if the complaint is:

    • Resolved;
    • On-going;
    • New; and
    • Pending complaints from previous quarter (resolved, ongoing).

11. If the C.E.O is the subject of the complaint, the complaint shall be forwarded to the Board Chairman for further action.
12. . If any of the Board members is the subject of the complaint, the complaint shall be forwarded to the Principal Secretary or the Cabinet Secretary ICT,Innovation and Youth Affairs for further action.

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

• Guidelines
• Service Complaints
• Media Enterprises
• Media Council Act
• Proposed Subscription and Accreditation Fees

Others

• PURSUANT to section 19 (1) of the Media Act, CAP 411B, The Council may, by notice in the Gazette, impose a levy in respect of all media enterprises operating in Kenya, and an annual registration fee in respect of all journalists whose names appear in the registers kept by the Council.
• In exercise of the power donated to it under section 19 the Council has through gazette notice number 896 of 2009 published the rates of levies payable to the Media Council of Kenya by all media enterprises operating in Kenya.
• Now, therefore 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.