Broadcasting and Telecommunications Principal Secretary (PS) Stephen Isaboke came under sharp scrutiny from Members of Parliament over the Government Advertising Agency’s (GAA) expenditure of Ksh 9 million weekly on a single local newspaper to publish the MyGov pullout.
Appearing before the Committee on Information, Communication and Innovation, Isaboke defended the spending, arguing that the current deal represented significant savings compared to the previous arrangement. He revealed that under the old contract, the government spent Ksh 24.5 million weekly across four newspapers, which translated to Ksh 6.1 million per publication.
According to Isaboke, the new model delivers 63.26 per cent in savings, reducing the government’s annual spend from Ksh 1.19 billion to Ksh 432 million. “Overall, the government is saving Ksh 758 million, which clearly demonstrates value for money,” the PS told lawmakers.
However, MPs raised concerns over whether the deal provided true value for money, given that circulation numbers are now lower compared to when MyGov ran across four newspapers. Mbooni MP Erastus Kivasu questioned whether the government was saving at the expense of wider reach.
“You are saving while spending that amount on one newspaper only. Initially, four newspapers carried MyGov, and circulation was much higher compared to now,” Kivasu noted.
Committee Chair and Dagoretti South MP John Kiarie pressed for the adoption of a digital evaluation framework to track circulation accurately. He faulted GAA’s current reliance on delivery lists from the Postal Corporation of Kenya and a private company, as well as circulation figures provided by the contracted newspaper itself.
“It is risky to depend on a client’s word to measure value. We need a digitized system that eliminates inaccuracies,” Kiarie emphasized.
The MPs urged the PS to establish a proper monitoring and evaluation mechanism, warning that without it, the justification for the Ksh 9 million weekly spend remained unconvincing.
