The government has frozen all advertisements to the country’s four main newspapers – Daily Nation, the Standard, the Star and People Daily.
The decision was made following a special Cabinet meeting early this month where the government resolved to have the State start its own publication referred to as MY GOV, where all adverts will be published.
Head of Civil Service and President Uhuru Kenyatta’s Chief of Staff Joseph Kinyua communicated the controversial directive to all ministries in a circular dated February 8, 2017.
“In this regard, each accounting officer shall ensure any request for services by them will be done through MY. GOV publication. Any officers found violating this requirement will be liable to surcharge of the amount spent beside other disciplinary measures,” the circular reads.
In a quite interesting move, the State, through the Government Advertisement Agency (GAA), informed media houses of the decision and requested them to distribute its publication as an insert in the mainstream papers.
Media executives, however, insisted that they can only carry the insert on condition that they have a say in the editorial content and adverts thereon are paid as per individual media houses rates.
The People Daily has since accepted the offer while The Standard and the Star newspapers declined. It’s not clear if The Nation was given the offer.
Media stakeholders have condemned the move warning that it could lead to massive job losses.
“It is surprising and disappointing and it’s clearly intended to starve media of a key revenue resource. When a government wants to create its own platform and push adverts there, it’s very worrying. We are asking the State to rescind the move,” Nation Media Group Editor-in-Chief Tom Mshindi said.
This comes even as reports indicate the State, through GAA, owes media owners more than Sh1 billion in unpaid adverts for the past 18 months.
