David Omwoyo
David Omwoyo is a Kenyan media executive and policy advocate who has transformed the Media Council of Kenya (MCK) into a national hub for press freedom and professionalism. Appointed chief executive officer in 2017 after stints as a senior editor, journalism lecturer and NGO communications lead, he inherited an under-resourced regulator with 16 staff and a KSh 55 million budget. By 2025 he had expanded the workforce to more than 100, secured Treasury allocations and donor grants that lifted annual expenditure above KSh 1 billion, and rolled out a devolved structure with offices in all 47 counties.
Omwoyo has overseen the accreditation of 11,000 journalists, launched a digital safety help-desk that has handled 1,400 cases of online harassment, and established twenty-one community radio stations and five campus TV studios that broadcast in local languages to promote civic dialogue. He led stakeholder consultations that yielded the 2023 Media Practitioners Bill, harmonising regulation for bloggers, vloggers and legacy outlets while safeguarding editorial independence.
A Chevening Scholar and Master of Media Leadership graduate of the University of Westminster, Omwoyo chairs the East African Press Councils Forum and sits on UNESCO’s Global Media and Information Literacy Alliance. His renewed contract through July 2027 signals commitment to Kenya’s media ecosystem.