Communication policy takes shape as State eyes news outlet

A new policy is set to change public communication in Kenya. The plan seeks to cut costs by centralising the government advertising at the Ministry of Information, Communication and Technology.

The move also spells out how the government will disseminate information and undertake media buying.

Under the new rules, Government Advertising Agency (GAA), will authorise all public advertising and implement standards.
A circular on the policy from the National Treasury to all Cabinet secretaries is expected to be released this week.

“All government advertising, including that by State corporations, universities and semi-autonomous government agencies (SAGAS) will be processed through the Government Advertising Agency (GAA) under the Ministry of Information, Communications and Technology,” reads the circular.

All ministries, departments, agencies and SAGAS would be required to submit to the GAA their quarterly advertising plans 15 days before the start of each quarter to facilitate planning and budgeting, it adds.

LIVE FEEDS

To accommodate the new changes, the ICT ministry is setting up a new office at a cost of Sh17 million where the ministries will hold press conferences and provide live feeds to the media.

“We’ve just created a central office to handle all government advertising. We are only helping the ministries and probably making their work easier,” said Information Secretary Ezekiel Mutua.

“It is not meant to cut down on their media buying budget as such but saving will definitely happen.”

The circular however sets a limit of three minutes per exposure for advertisements on electronic media while special adverts of national interests are allowed not more than five minutes.

Infomercials on audio visuals will require special approvals to exceed 10 minutes. The same will apply to any posters and branded items exceeding Sh3 million.

In March, President Uhuru Kenyatta directed government institutions to cut reliance on newspapers and television stations for advertisements.

“Let the ministries and other public bodies advertise through the digital platform we just launched and save that money for use in other things,” Mr Kenyatta said at the inaugural Kenya ICT Innovation Forum.

“Those targeting government jobs and contracts can get that information on the new portal.”

ICT Cabinet secretary Fred Matiang’i read from the same script as the President in June, saying the plan would cut government expenditure on advertising to about Sh1 billion from Sh2.8 billion per year currently.

“The policy governs advertising protocol and emphasises the need to cut advertising expenditure because a huge portion of the money goes to political congratulatory messages and obituaries,” Dr Matiang’i said.

Plans to unveil a government newspaper — similar to Uganda’s New Vision and Tanzania’s Daily News — have also been mooted. Once this plan is implemented, most of what the Kenya News Agency gathers will find space in the government publication.

“This year, KNA targets to write 42,000 stories. We know that newspapers are likely to take a very little portion of these. We’ll find a way to use these stories,” Mr Mutua said.

“It will not be any new thing because the most successful newspaper in Uganda is run by the government and Tanzania has a similar paper too.”
Consolidating government advertising will make the State the second biggest spender on media with a budget of about Sh7 billion.

Media monitoring firm Reelforge in February named Safaricom as the top spender in advertising after the telco spent Sh8.05 billion, leading the pack of Kenya’s top 10 spenders in advertising in 2014.

The top 10 Kenyan corporate advertisers accounted for Sh25.5 billion or a third of what was spent on adverts last year, underlining the importance that big firms put on marketing and publicity.

Consumer goods firm Reckitt Benckiser was second with Sh2.9 billion followed by non-profit organisation, Population Services (Sh2.8 billion), Samsung (Sh2.1 billion), East African Breweries (Sh2.09 billion) and Unilever (Sh1.9 billion).

Other big spenders were Airtel Kenya, ranked seventh having used Sh1.6 billion, followed by Multichoice Kenya (Sh1.36 billion), OLX Kenya (Sh1.31 billion) and KCB (Sh1.3 billion).

BODY BLOW

TV stations raked in Sh41.8 billion in advertising revenue last year, nearly half of what the industry spent. It was followed by radio Sh36.3 billion and print Sh7.7 billion.
The move to significantly cut ad spending by the government is set to deal a body blow to media firms. This comes on the heels of the souring of the relationship between the State and the media over a digital migration disagreement that led to the closure of three major television stations for about a month early this year.