How Kass FM Became the Voice of the Kalenjin Community

Joshua Kipchumba Chepkwony — known in business circles as CK Joshua, the quietly formidable founder of Kass Media Group — once said that he built Kass FM because he believed that an individual's native language is instrumental in shaping who they are and how they see the world. He did not build it for ratings. He built it so that the Kalenjin people could discuss, share ideas, be informed, and receive news in the language they best understand.

In 2005, when Kass FM 89.1 went to air from Nairobi, Chepkwony was a businessman who had started his commercial life buying and reselling goats in the village. He was not a media theorist. But what he articulated — a language as the architecture of selfhood — was a political act, whether or not he framed it that way.

I came to Kass FM the way many Kalenjin children of my generation did: through my grandmother. She kept a transistor radio on the kitchen shelf between the salt tin and a photograph of the Cherangani Hills, and on certain mornings, when the reception was good and the fog had not yet swallowed the ridge, you could hear the presenters' voices move through the room in a language that was ours before it was anyone else's. My grandmother had never had much use for KBC English Service or Radio Taifa — not because she could not follow them, but because they never seemed to be speaking to her. They spoke at the country. Kass FM spoke to a people.

This article is about that distinction — and about the long, complicated history that made it matter so much.

What Is Kass FM? Station Facts at a Glance

Before getting into the history, here is what you need to know about Kass FM today.

The Silence Before the Dial: Why Kass FM's Arrival Mattered

To understand what Kass FM meant when it launched in 2005, you first have to understand what preceded it: an almost total absence of Kalenjin-language broadcasting.

For most of Kenya's post-independence history, the state held the broadcast airwaves as a political instrument. The Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC) and its predecessor, the Voice of Kenya, broadcast in English and Swahili — the two official languages selected for nation-building. Vernacular radio was, in effect, prohibited under the single-party dispensation that Daniel arap Moi presided over from 1978 to 2002. The irony is sharp: Moi, himself from the Tugen sub-group of the Kalenjin, governed Kenya for twenty-four years while his own community's language was systematically excluded from the very airwaves radiating across the Rift Valley where his people lived.

Who Are the Kalenjin?

The Kalenjin are Kenya's third-largest ethnic group, numbering over 6.3 million people. They are made up of several sub-groups — Nandi, Kipsigis, Tugen, Keiyo, Marakwet, Pokot, and the Terik — united by shared linguistic and cultural roots. The collective identity is newer than many assume: the term "Kalenjin" was not in wide use until the 1940s, when World War II veterans and students adopted it as a unifying name. The Kalenjin Union formalised this pan-identity in 1948.

The word "Kalenjin" means, roughly, I say to you — an invitation to speech, an insistence on being heard. It is a fitting etymology for a community whose relationship with Kenya's public airwaves has been a decades-long argument about whether they deserved to be heard at all.

After Moi's re-introduction of multiparty politics in the early 1990s and the gradual FM liberalisation that followed — Capital FM becoming Kenya's first private FM station in 1995, KBC launching Metro FM in 1996 — the dam on vernacular radio began to crack. By 2002, numerous ethnic-language stations were coming into existence. Other communities had already begun claiming the airwaves: Inooro FM, Coro FM, and Kameme FM for the Kikuyu; Ramogi FM for the Luo. The Kalenjin's turn was still coming.

When it came, it came from a goat trader turned businessman who had never run a radio station before in his life.

2005: How Kass FM Was Founded and Why

Kass FM launched with a mission its founder has articulated consistently ever since: to reach the Kalenjin sub-communities living across the vast Rift Valley and give them a daily platform for news, culture, agriculture, health, and the rhythms of life — all delivered in the language they had spoken at their firesides long before Kenya was Kenya.

The programming architecture Kass FM developed was not accidental. It was a precise reading of who its listeners actually were.

The Rift Valley is Kenya's agricultural heartland. The tea highlands of Kericho enjoy a worldwide reputation. The wheat and maize belts of Uasin Gishu and Trans-Nzoia feed much of the country. The smallholder dairy cooperatives of Nandi Hills stretch across some of the richest farming land in East Africa. Kass FM understood this from the start. Its programming wove together news, cultural content, and a deep commitment to agricultural and horticulture information — crop prices, fertiliser advice, weather patterns, market access — that farmers in Bomet, Kericho, Baringo, and Elgeyo Marakwet needed and that no mainstream English-language Nairobi station was remotely interested in providing.

The Kakipta Show: Rebuilding a Shared History

But the station also did something subtler and more enduring. Its talk programme Kakipta became one of Kass FM's earliest defining shows. It did not simply discuss current affairs. It reached backward into Kalenjin history, oral tradition, and the origin stories of the different sub-groups, assembling them into a coherent shared narrative.

The show became a space, as academic researchers later documented, where voices like Kiipkoeech arap Sambu attempted to demonstrate the common origins and traditions of the Kalenjin and chart a shared political and cultural future. Songs by artists like Jane Kotut — whose track Rift Valley mapped the highlands as homeland and claimed the Maasai and the Turkana as fellow indigenous inhabitants of that land — played between interviews. Music and politics were not separate channels on Kass FM. They were the same broadcast.

On Kass FM, cultural programming was never just entertainment. It was the medium through which a dispersed community reminded itself of its own coherence.

Kass FM's Reach: From the Rift Valley to the Diaspora

By 2012, research firms were consistently estimating Kass FM's daily listenership at around five million — making it not merely a community station but one of the most-listened-to vernacular outlets in Kenya, reaching Nairobi, the Rift Valley, the Coast, Western Kenya, and parts of Nyanza.

That a radio station broadcasting in a language with no official state recognition had built that audience was, in itself, a statement about whose voice the Kenyan airwaves had historically refused to carry.

The station's reach extended beyond Kenya's borders too. Kass FM streams internationally online, maintaining a connection for Kalenjin people in the diaspora — in European cities, in North America, and across East Africa — who want to hear news, music, and the language of home. During the ICC proceedings in The Hague, Joshua arap Sang, one of Kass FM's pioneer presenters, described its reach from his hotel room in the Netherlands: "Even here in Netherlands, where I am in my room, I listen to Kass FM."

A radio station that crosses an ocean to find you, still speaking in the language that formed you — this is what community broadcasting means at its most fundamental.

Kass FM and the 2007 Post-Election Violence: The Full Picture

Any honest account of Kass FM's history must address 2007. Not briefly, as a disclaimer before moving on, but squarely — because it is part of the station's story and the story of Kenyan radio more broadly.

The 2007 general election and the violence that followed — in which more than 1,200 people were killed and hundreds of thousands displaced, with Eldoret, Kapsabet, and the broader Rift Valley among the worst-affected areas — represent one of the darkest chapters in Kenya's post-independence history. Kass FM was named in the aftermath, loudly and formally, by the International Criminal Court.

The Joshua arap Sang Case

Joshua arap Sang, who joined Kass FM in 2005 as one of its pioneer presenters after seven years at Christian stations Sayare and Biblia Husema Broadcasting, hosted a popular morning phone-in show. ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo accused Sang of planning the post-election violence and using coded language on radio to coordinate it. He was indicted on five counts of crimes against humanity alongside then-Eldoret North MP William Ruto. Human Rights Watch had documented that Kass FM broadcast calls for "the people of the milk" — a Kalenjin expression — to "cut the grass," interpreted as incitement to drive Kikuyu and other communities from the Rift Valley.

Sang denied the charges consistently and with force. His lawyer, Katwa Kigen, argued in court that prosecution witnesses contradicted each other, that the transcripts of Sang's actual broadcasts were exonerating rather than incriminating, and that one song cited as evidence of coded incitement was simply a gospel piece by Bureti Super Stars asking God to save the world from disease and conflict. The case against Sang was terminated in 2016 when ICC judges found insufficient evidence to continue. He was acquitted.

What the 2007 Episode Means for Vernacular Radio

The 2007 episode does not define Kass FM — but it cannot be set aside. It raises the central tension in vernacular community broadcasting that applies not only to Kenya but across Africa: the same closeness to a community that makes a station indispensable also makes it vulnerable to becoming a vehicle for that community's grievances when political actors choose to weaponise them.

Kass FM's founder, CK Joshua Chepkwony, was known for resisting political capture of the station. When then-Deputy President William Ruto reportedly attempted to acquire shareholding in Kass FM, Chepkwony — consistently described by insiders as a man who deliberately avoided business ties with politicians — is said to have frustrated the effort. That a private media owner had to actively resist that pressure speaks to the structural vulnerability of any vernacular station operating at the intersection of ethnic identity and electoral politics in Kenya.

What Kass FM Built: Culture, Agriculture, and the Sound of Home

The 2007 chapter, for all its weight, is not the whole story — and letting it become the whole story would be dishonest.

What Kass FM built across two decades was a genuine cultural infrastructure for a community that had been broadcasting into silence. The station covers horticulture and dairy farming in a way that national stations never have and never will — because Nairobi broadcasters have no financial interest in the price of pyrethrum in Nandi Hills or the state of the milk cooperative in Bomet. Kass FM does, because its listeners do.

The station also became a cultural archive. Kalenjin popular music — a genre deeply influenced by the Kipsigis musical tradition, which is why Kericho has long been understood as the community's centre of musical innovation — found its most consistent platform on Kass FM's airwaves. The station played this music not as nostalgia but as a living genre in conversation with contemporary life. The first Kalenjin-language film, Ngebe Gaa, which premiered at the 2019 Eldoret Film Festival, was in some ways the downstream consequence of a cultural confidence that Kass FM had helped build over fifteen years on air.

Kass FM also covers athletics with an intimacy that no mainstream broadcaster matches. The Kalenjin community has produced some of the greatest long-distance runners in history — including Eliud Kipchoge, widely regarded as the greatest marathon runner ever, who is a Nandi from Kapsabet. When Kipchoge runs a race, Kass FM covers it with a community pride that transcends sports broadcasting.

The Kalenjin Radio Landscape in 2026: Kass FM and Its Competitors

Kass FM's success proved that the market for Kalenjin-language broadcasting was real, substantial, and underserved. It did not remain alone on the dial for long.

By 2017, when Mediamax launched its own Kalenjin station under political influence and Chamgei FM expanded into a more direct competitor, the Kalenjin radio landscape had multiplied to over twenty stations. That proliferation is Kass FM's deepest legacy — not its individual programmes, but the proof it provided that Kalenjin-language broadcasting was viable, valuable, and long overdue.

Key Milestones in Kass FM's History

• 1948 — Kalenjin Union founded; pan-Kalenjin identity formalised
• 1978–2002 — Moi era; vernacular radio effectively prohibited; Kalenjin language absent from FM airwaves
• 1995 — FM liberalisation begins with Capital FM; vernacular stations still years away
• 2000–2002 — Kameme FM, Inooro FM, and Ramogi FM launch for Kikuyu and Luo communities; Kalenjin vacuum remains
• 2005 — Kass FM launches on 89.1 FM, Nairobi; Kenya's first dedicated Kalenjin radio station
• 2005 — Joshua arap Sang joins as pioneer presenter after leaving Biblia Husema Broadcasting
• 2007 — Post-election violence; Kass FM named in ICC investigation
• 2011 — Joshua arap Sang indicted by ICC alongside William Ruto
• 2012 — Kass FM reaches approximately 5 million daily listeners
• 2016 — ICC case against Sang terminated; acquitted for insufficient evidence
• 2017 — Mediamax launches Kalenjin competitor; Chamgei FM expands; Kalenjin radio landscape multiplies
• 2019 — First Kalenjin-language film Ngebe Gaa premieres at Eldoret Film Festival
• 2026 — Kass FM continues as dominant Kalenjin station with 5 million daily listeners

Frequently Asked Questions About Kass FM

What language does Kass FM broadcast in? Kass FM broadcasts primarily in Kalenjin, the language spoken by the Nandi, Kipsigis, Tugen, Keiyo, Marakwet, Pokot, Terik, and other related sub-communities in Kenya's Rift Valley and beyond. The station also carries some English-language content.

When was Kass FM founded? Kass FM was founded in 2005 by Joshua Kipchumba Chepkwony (CK Joshua), chairman of Kass Media Group.

Who owns Kass FM? Kass FM is owned by businessman Joshua Kipchumba Chepkwony, popularly known as CK Joshua. He is the founder and chairman of Kass Media Group, which also runs Kass TV. Chepkwony also owns Jamii Telecommunications (Faiba internet services) and Jamii Milling Company.

What are Kass FM's FM frequencies? Kass FM broadcasts on 89.1 FM in Nairobi, 102.7 FM in Mombasa, 99.3 FM in Kericho and Bomet, and 92.5 FM in Nakuru.

How many people listen to Kass FM? Research firms consistently estimate Kass FM's daily listenership at approximately 5 million, making it one of Kenya's most-listened-to vernacular radio stations.

Can I listen to Kass FM online? Yes. Kass FM streams live online at Radio.co.ke — no download or registration required. The station also streams internationally for Kalenjin diaspora communities.

What type of programming does Kass FM offer? Kass FM covers news, sports, Kalenjin cultural programming, music, agriculture and horticulture, health information, women's and youth empowerment content, religion, and governance — all in the Kalenjin language.

What happened to Kass FM during the 2007 election violence? Kass FM was named by the International Criminal Court in connection with Kenya's 2007–2008 post-election violence. Presenter Joshua arap Sang was indicted on charges of crimes against humanity, which he denied. The ICC case was terminated in 2016 after judges found insufficient evidence, and Sang was acquitted.

What other Kalenjin radio stations are there in Kenya? Several Kalenjin-language stations now operate in Kenya, including Chamgei FM (Royal Media Services), Taach FM (Eldoret), Emoo FM (Mediamax), and KBC Kitwek FM, among over twenty others across the Rift Valley region.

Listen to Kass FM Live Online

You can stream Kass FM live, free, and without registration at Radio.co.ke — on any device, anywhere in the world. Whether you are in Eldoret, Nairobi, Kericho, or the diaspora, Radio.co.ke brings Kenya's Kalenjin radio directly to your browser.

Explore more Kenyan vernacular stations on the Radio.co.ke stations directory — including Chamgei FM, Taach FM, Inooro FM, Ramogi FM, and more than 80 other stations from across Kenya.

My grandmother's radio is still on the kitchen shelf. The photograph of the Cherangani Hills is still beside it. The station it is tuned to has not changed.

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