Govt Directs All Agencies, Universities To Advertise Through KBC

The government has instructed all government agencies, independent commissions and public universities to air their TV and radio adverts through the state-owned broadcaster, Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC).

This was announced on Friday, March 8 by Principal Secretary of the State Department of Broadcasting and Telecommunications Prof. Edward Kisiang'ani who highlighted that the directive was part of targeted reforms at turning around the financial fortunes of the national broadcaster.

The PS indicated that the move was in response to a Treasury circular issued on July 10, 2015, that communicated the Cabinet's decision to centralize public sector advertising.

The circular created the Government Advertising Agency (GAA) as the coordinating institution for all public sector advertisements.

Principal Secretary of the State Department of Broadcasting and Telecommunications Prof. Edward Kisiang'ani during a past address. /KBC DIGITAL

"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 (GM)," Kisiang'ani said in a circular to all Ministries.

The PS further noted that the move would likewise ensure that the State pays for advertising services immediately, without incurring more debts owed to media houses.

"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 said.

"Going forward, therefore, it has been deemed prudent to initiate measures to ensure that as public sector advertisers seek to access their target audiences through campaigns and other statutory announcements, the Government leverages on the provisions within its realm to revive and fully utilize its institutions."

Kisiang'ani added that it was deemed prudent to initiate measures to ensure that as public sector advertisers seek to access their target audiences through campaigns and other statutory announcements, the Government leverages the provisions within its realm to revive and fully utilize its institutions.

However, the move sparked uproar among media circles with some fearing that this would cripple other media houses which had for long relied on revenue derived from government adverts to sustain themselves.

A report released on Monday, February 26 by the Communications Authority of Kenya (CA) revealed that out of Ksh16 billion being spent on advertising via the country's media channels, TV stations bagged Ksh10.9 billion in advertising revenue and received above Ksh3 billion every month as advertising revenue since January 2023.

Radio on the other hand came second with Ksh3.6 billion in ad revenue going towards radio stations, bagging between Ksh1.4 billion and Ksh1.8 billion since January 2023. 

ICT Cabinet Secretary (CS) Eliud Owalo on July 5, 2023, had hinted at the Kenya Kwanza government trimming spending on advertising through media houses, arguing that the government was continuously splashing millions of shillings on advertisements in the private sector at the expense of cheaper options, despite disseminating State advertisements falling under his docket.

"It is not the role of the government to finance the media. It so happens that the government has been advertising in the media but the government cannot be the single source of revenue for the media.

"Some of the plans I have as the CS responsible for that functional mandate, I don’t see why the government should continue spending the amounts of money that it has been spending on advertisement revenue," he opined during an interview with Citizen TV's Jeff Koinange during the JKLive show.