Moses Kuria's Move To Tame Media Houses Receives Fresh Boost

Gatundu South Member of Parliament (MP) Gabriel Kagombe on Saturday, July 1 revealed that he will introduce a Bill in the National Assembly seeking to reduce government advertisements on mainstream media.

Speaking at Mutunguru Secondary School during the launch of the high-speed internet, the United Democratic Alliance (UDA) lawmaker affirmed that he had notified the Speaker about the motion he is set to table on Wednesday, July 5.

Kagombe stated that the government was keen on taming what he termed as 'rogue media', accusing some mainstream media houses of having the tendency of reporting negative and false stories about the government while at the same time pocketing government funds.

"I see the journalists in attendance, you will leave us alone. It cannot be that your work is to write negative stories about the government yet you cannot reveal to the people what you do behind the scenes," stated Kagombe.

The Gatundu South MP, therefore, wants Article 62 of the Procurement Act amended to only allow at least two national newspapers to publish all government advertisements.

He added that the procurement will advocate for the funds used in advertising on the mainstream media to be focused on digital spaces instead.

Kagombe further claimed that the media in Kenya was underperforming in terms of dissemination of information that the government wants to share with the public through newspapers.

He defended his sentiments by revealing how print media has been culpable of circulating reduced newspaper copies every day and pretending to have informed everyone whenever they are mandated to spread information that the government has advertised in the newspaper.

Kagombe said that the move would also be beneficial to youths that have enrolled in the Ajira government program, since the funds used in the mainstream media advertisement, would then be channelled to the digital space once the amendment takes place.

"We discovered that you print 20,000 copies then you pretend that you have kept everyone informed, now we want the youth doing digital jobs beginning with Mutunguru where we have brought high-speed internet to get the benefits from the government," he added.

"Therefore those amendments will be coming on Wednesday in Parliament so that now, the youth working in the Ajira government program get jobs from the government," promised Kagombe.

His sentiments were viewed as a backup to those of Trade Cabinet Secretary (CS) Moses Kuria, who made headlines for his attacks against the Nation Media Group (NMG) during a church service on Sunday, June 18 when he joined members of the Akorino Church in Embu County.

CS Kuria threatened that any government official who places an advertisement on NMG risks losing their job.

“I want to tell Nation Media, you need to choose whether you are a newspaper, broadcasting house or an opposition party. From today, not even tomorrow, if any government department advertises with Nation Media, know you are on your way home," he announced.

The basis of Kuria's criticism towards NMG was a report that claimed that Ksh6 billion in oil funds were abused through botched tenders issued by the Trade and Agriculture ministries.

The CS thereafter took the war against NMG to Twitter with an explosive expletive statement which sarcastically implied that in the future, the media house would primarily attract business related to auctioneers and death announcements through its classifieds section.