Principal Secretary for the State Department on Broadcasting and Telecommunication, Prof Edward Kisiangani has said that the contract for running the government newspaper popular as ‘MyGov’ was awarded lawfully, following proper public procurement processes.
PS Kisiangani was responding to concerns raised by members of the Kenya Editors Guild (KEG) and Kenya Union of Journalists (KUJ) when they paid him a courtesy call.
During the discussions around the recent move by the government to award a single tender for government advertising to Convergence Media, owners of The Star Newspaper, the media members had expressed concern that denial of revenue from public advertising might cripple operations at several media institutions in the country.
The President of Kenya Editors Guild (KEG) Zubeida Kananu disclosed that Media Houses are facing financial constraints and requested government support.
The PS indicated that before the contract expiry, the Ministry floated a new tender for public sector advertisement. Convergence Media won the tender after presenting the lowest and most sustainable bid. He reiterated that all reputable Media Houses and government agencies participated in the tendering process.
He said The Star newspaper would be the sole printers and distributors of MyGov for the next two years, giving it a wide presence on all online and broadcasting channels run by Convergence Media.
“The terms of this contract restrict print advertisements from all public institutions, excluding the counties, to MyGov. Any requests for exemptions to publish advertisements outside MyGov, on a day other than Tuesday (when MyGov is published), will be directed to The Star newspaper upon authorization by this office,” said Kisiangani.
Until recently, MyGov was printed and circulated by the four daily newspapers, namely; Daily Nation, The Standard, The Star, and The People Daily, under a contractual arrangement that expired in December 2023.
