Information, Communication and Digital Economy Cabinet Secretary William Kabogo has pledged to enhance facilitation to Kenya News Agency to enable the agency effectively keep Kenyans updated on the efforts the government is making to better their lives.
Speaking when he made an impromptu visit to the Directorate of Information’s KNA National Editorial Desk today, the CS said Kenyans sometimes criticized the government due to inadequate information on her activities towards their betterment.
“Everybody out there thinks Kenya is a failed state. It is not. President William Ruto is doing a lot of good work. I spent a whole week in Central Kenya with him not only launching new projects, but also officially opening projects that have been successfully completed. So, these are the things that we need to tell our countrymen. There is a lot that is happening out there,” Kabogo said.
“That notwithstanding, we have to continue working but we should be able to get you some money so that you can do what it is that you do,” he said noting the biggest challenge is that officers are not able to go to the field to collect stories due to lack of resources.
The CS added now that he is fully aware of what KNA does, he will further look into the issue of facilitation considering that most of Ministry’s budget was zeroed in the budget cuts.
The Director of Information Mr. Joseph Kipkoech pointed out that the Directorate has been having various challenges the biggest being underfunding and understaffing.
“We do not have enough staff, the number of reporters, videographers and photographers are few since there has not been adequate staff recruitment to replace those exiting the service through retirement and natural attrition,” he said.
The CS also visited the photographic library where digitized historical multimedia records dating back to 1939 are stored.
The Director of Information, in-charge of ICT and Digitization Esther Wanjau said that the Directorate requires a Multimedia Management System to publish low-resolution watermarked copies of images to be available to the public and also be a source of revenue.
“A Digital Assets Management system will therefore be necessary to manage KNA’s multimedia assets and serve as a management system for KNA librarians and a repository for KNA photographers,” she explained.
These photos, when placed on the KNA website, will allow citizens and the world to browse through hundreds of thousands of historical photos which tell a version of Kenya’s history that has been hidden for decades.
“These photographs if arranged properly would ensure the government is getting Appropriation- in-Aid (A-in-A) and I will make sure that I’m on top of that,” the CS said, adding that he would look into the challenges the Directorate has been facing to ensure it effectively executes its mandate of keeping Kenyans informed of the government’s agenda and activities.
Established in 1963, KNA is a government-run national news agency. It is the flagship of the Directorate of Information mandated to gather, process, and disseminate news and information to the Kenyan public. It has a presence in all the 47 counties, an additional 25 Sub-County offices and runs 11 regional publications and printing centers.
By Wangari Ndirangu
