ICT Principal Secretary, Edward Kisiang’ani has directed all government agencies to exclusively advertise with the Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC).
In a letter addressed to all Principal Secretaries and heads of various State Corporations on Thursday, March 7, the PS highlighted that the directive aligns with the government's decision to centralise all government advertising.
Further, Kisinag'ani elaborated that the national broadcaster possesses a broad audience base encompassing Kenyans nationwide, thus deciding to centralise government advertising with the broadcaster as an effective strategy.
The new directive is a big blow to major media houses such as Citizen TV, NTV and KTN which depend on government advertisements for revenue.
"In light of the foregoing, all public sector electronic (radio and television) advertisements from Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) that fall under the National Government, Independent Commissions and Public Universities shall be handled by the Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC) upon authorization by the Government Advertising Agency (GAA).
"It is noted that the national network coverage commanded by KBC gives an assurance of a nationwide reach by advertisers," read the letter in part.
On the other hand, he explained that the directive will help the government achieve its plan to revamp the national broadcaster.
"The Government is keen to revive the KBC through a modernization framework that will make it the premier national broadcaster in Africa. This effort requires the national broadcaster to take the lead in the dissemination of information in Kenya.
"The purpose of this communication, therefore, is to bring this new policy decision to your attention and to request you to take the necessary action as and when required," the PS added in his letter.
Notably, the decision comes weeks after government advertisements for print media, usually published on MyGov, were moved to The Star Newspaper.
The Pending Bill Factor
According to the letter by Kisiang'ani the latest directive was also informed by the huge pending bills owed to the media houses.
In promotion of accountability, the PS asserted that the shift to KBC would put an end to the ballooning pending bill in government advertisement.
The current situation where the government owes media houses a substantial amount of money in pending bills calls for the adoption of strategies that will ensure a smooth flow of public sector advertising services while maintaining zero debt levels.
"These strategies must also align with the government policy of reviving ailing public sector entities and ensuring that any public-private partnership is not skewed against public sector institutions," he explained.
