World Press Freedom Day 2019

Wambui Kiai is an Associate Professor at the School of Journalism and Mass Communication, University of Nairobi. She is the immediate former Director of the School where she successfully spearheaded the revitalization of the School leading to its identification by UNESCO in the year 2007, as one of the top 12 training institutions in communication and media in Africa. It was the only UNESCO potential Centre of Excellence in Kenya. Kiai currently serves as the interim Chair of the Media Council of Kenya Training and Inspection Sub-Committee (MITA) and she is a founding member of the Council. Between 2008-2012, she was a Council member of the Media Council of Kenya (MCK) and chaired the Training and Accreditation Committee. She was appointed to a Task Force on the reform of the Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC) in 2012. The findings of this Task Force formed the basis for an on-going process to revitalise and reform KBC.

Kiai earned her doctorate from the then Institute of African Studies (IAS), University of Nairobi, specialising in Health Communication. She holds a Masters degree in Journalism from the University of Western Ontario (UWO), Canada; a Post-graduate Diploma in Mass Communication and a Bachelor of Arts degree, both from the University of Nairobi. Her teaching and research interests are: health communication; development communication; gender and communication; leadership and communication, media history and biography writing; broadcasting and specialised writing. 

She co-authored the book Communicating with Adolescents about AIDS: Experience from East and Central Africa, which pioneered the growth of the interests among graduated students in research on HIV and AIDS Communication, and served as a reference text for students and researchers in this area. She has co-authored the chapters Media Veterans in Kenya: Archival Records in Kiai Wambui & Ngugi Muiru (Eds) Voices of Kenyan Media Veterans: Reflections on 70 Years of Communication and Media in Kenya.  University of Nairobi and Ford Foundation (2011), and Media Developments and Uses in the Colonial Era in Nyabuga George and Kiai Wambui (Eds) The Media in Kenya: Evolution, Effects and Challenges. University of Nairobi and Ford Foundation (2011). She has authored, co-authored and co-edited other books, book chapters and journal articles.  

Kiai is a dynamic leader and scholar who provides strategic managerial and academic guidance in the field of Communication and Media Studies. She led efforts in developing new curricular that provides students with rigour and challenge in their education, as well as the tools and confidence to build successful careers. She led to completion, the process of formulating a common curriculum for a Diploma in Journalism for the Media Council of Kenya. She has also served on various judging panels for media and film awards in Kenya and Africa.

Kiai earned her doctorate from the then Institute of African Studies (IAS), University of Nairobi, specialising in Health Communication. She holds a Masters degree in Journalism from the University of Western Ontario (UWO), Canada; a Post-graduate Diploma in Mass Communication and a Bachelor of Arts degree, both from the University of Nairobi. Her teaching and research interests are: health communication; development communication; gender and communication; leadership and communication, media history and biography writing; broadcasting and specialised writing. 

She co-authored the book Communicating with Adolescents about AIDS: Experience from East and Central Africa, which pioneered the growth of the interests among graduated students in research on HIV and AIDS Communication, and served as a reference text for students and researchers in this area. She has co-authored the chapters Media Veterans in Kenya: Archival Records in Kiai Wambui & Ngugi Muiru (Eds) Voices of Kenyan Media Veterans: Reflections on 70 Years of Communication and Media in Kenya.  University of Nairobi and Ford Foundation (2011), and Media Developments and Uses in the Colonial Era in Nyabuga George and Kiai Wambui (Eds) The Media in Kenya: Evolution, Effects and Challenges. University of Nairobi and Ford Foundation (2011). She has authored, co-authored and co-edited other books, book chapters and journal articles.  

Kiai is a dynamic leader and scholar who provides strategic managerial and academic guidance in the field of Communication and Media Studies. She led efforts in developing new curricular that provides students with rigour and challenge in their education, as well as the tools and confidence to build successful careers. She led to completion, the process of formulating a common curriculum for a Diploma in Journalism for the Media Council of Kenya. She has also served on various judging panels for media and film awards in Kenya and Africa.