The Anglican Church of Kenya’s Diocese of Kirinyaga backed by local investors has launched its own television station to serve the Mount Kenya region of central Kenya. On 16 July 2016 the church launched Pillar Television at ceremony held at St. Thomas Cathedral in Kerugoya, which will broadcast local and overseas sourced programming. The Rt. Rev. Joseph Kibucwa, Bishop of Kirinyaga told reporters the station had signed deal with BBC-Africa to transmit its services. “Since we do not want our newly launched TV station to be only airing local content, this is why we have entered into a partnership with the BBC which will be providing us with international content for our viewers,” he told the Standard. The launch is part of a wider campaign to foster economic development through church-private partnerships in Kenya outside of Nairobi. The Church of Nigeria last year launched a cable-television channel while several dioceses across the continent have invested in radio stations.
