The government of Kenya (GoK) has pending bills totaling up to KES 2.5 billion. As a major advertiser, this huge bill is affecting cashflow for Kenyan media houses leading to layoffs. Last week, the Nation Media Group (NMG) announced it was evolving and part of the evolution is workforce reduction.
Commenting on the planned layoffs, NMG Chair Wilfred Kiboro said, “In the last nine months, the government has spent KES 24B on travel alone, yet it cannot find KES 2.5B to pay the media the debts it owes them…We are going to lose so many people in the planned reorganisation.”
This is not the first major round of layoffs; Standard Media Group had another wave of layoffs in September 2023. There have also been unconfirmed allegations that the media group is not paying salaries.
Other than huge pending bills, GoK has affected media income by reducing future revenue opportunities. This year in March, Broadcasting and Telecommunications Principal Secretary Edward Kisiangani announced that Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC) has been handed exclusive rights to air all radio and TV announcements from the national government.
Following the directive, all Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) that fall under the national government; independent commissions’ as well public universities are mandated to advertise through the state-owned media house.
The Principal Secretary claimed this to be part of a wider strategy to ensure a smooth flow of public sector advertising services. It supports the government’s policy to revitalize struggling public sector entities and guarantees that any public-private partnership is conducted fairly, without giving an unfair advantage to the private sector.
Ad Revenue Controls the Media
Last year, a report revealed that Kenya’s government uses the advertising revenue as a tool to control the media. As a major advertiser the government favours media houses that paint it in good light. The financial carrot is used to exert political pressure on media houses.
GoK awarded The Star Publications the sole tender to print and distribute 100,000 copies of the newspaper for free every Tuesday. The free issues are sought after as each issue includes a special section called “MyGov,” a government publication featuring tenders and official announcements. Previously, MyGov was distributed by four other dailies in the Kenyan media sector. GoK claimed the Star offered the best deal which is a flat rate of KES 9 million for every MyGov pullout.
