The EastAfrican at 20: A Walk Down Memory Lane

The EastAfrican is celebrating 20 years this year in what has been a successful presence in the East African region.

Plans for the creation of the newspaper began in 1993 but as far back as 1970, the founder and proprietor, the Aga Khan, had expressed the wish for “at least one publication of high quality circulating throughout East Africa”. Bouts of hostility involving the three East African countries and resulting in border closures, trade sanctions and the collapse of common institutions, as well as intermittent internal violence and disruption, had subverted these ambitions. However, by the early 1990s, Uganda was stable and Nairobi-Dar relations were civil.

The founding team was led by Joseph Odindo and included Gerry Loughran and Jerry Okungu, and they set out to create a publication that broke the rules of what was then the norm in newspaper publishing in the region. Joseph Odindo knew exactly what he wanted especially in the layout of the paper: Wide columns and modest headlines, the op-ed page deep in the paper, the editorial horizontal not vertical and no advertisements on the front page. The title, ‘The EastAfrican’ was also a contentious issue, but in the end the pioneers got their way and the paper became a success even being named ‘One of the best, if not the best of the regional newspaper in sub-Saharan Africa’ by the International Press Institute 18 months after its launch.

One of the things that stand out in the journey of The EastAfrican is the early planning that went into it that has afforded the paper a solid foundation. Staffers were hired across East Africa with John Githongo and Charles Onyango-Obbo hired as columnists for Kenya and Uganda respectively. Joseph Odindo took to travelling to either Uganda or Tanzania every two weeks as he realized that he should understand their politics, the people and their culture. This in depth research led to partnerships with The Monitor in Uganda and the assembling of a competent team across the East African region. This foundation is what has made it possible for The EastAfrican to outlive some of its competitors such as The East African Chronicle.

The EastAfrican to date sells 30,000 copies a week across the region and still caters to the reader, Bill Clinton has proudly stated he regularly reads the paper, that is interested in analysis and more detailed reporting beyond the breaking news reportage of other newspapers.

There are many challenges that newspapers are facing in the digital age that cannot be ignored. So far, The EastAfrican seems poised to keep running for decades to come, even as perhaps one day its platform changes, as it promises to retain the core features of the paper that define its character.