Malindi residents Monday called on the government to modernize and transform the Government Press to enable it to print vital documents such as passports, national examinations, election materials, and currency notes locally.
Led by former Malindi Mayor Patterson Kafulo, the residents lamented that the country was spending huge amounts of much-needed revenue to procure printing services outside the country when the services could be carried out in the country at lower costs.
Speaking at the Nidhamia Hall in Malindi town during a public participation session on the Draft Government Press Policy 2023, Mr. Kafulo said that other countries, including some in Africa, were printing their documents and wondered why Kenya was still outsourcing the services.
The session was organized by the Presidential Taskforce on the Modernization and Transformation of the Government Press into an Efficient and Highly Performing Viable Entity, whose mandate is to develop a policy and strategic framework for building a Kenya Government Press for the Future.
Mr. Kafulo said African nations such as Ghana, South Africa, and Egypt were printing all government documents inside their countries without having to procure the services from other countries while Kenya is not able to print its own.
“Recently, we had a passport crisis in this country. If those passports were being printed by the Government Printer, that problem would not have been experienced,” he claimed.
Kafulo said he fully supports the idea of modernizing and transforming the Government Press to enable it to have modern equipment and adequate personnel to enable it to carry out its mandate efficiently.
He said the amount of money we spend to procure printing services for ballot papers, national examination materials, and currency notes could be used in the country on development projects.
He said his son, a maritime engineer, had missed three employment opportunities due to lack of a passport, which he said the young man had waited for six months.
The taskforce’s team leader, Mr. Collins Kiprono said the team had been thrilled by the level of awareness among residents, who he said had given vital suggestions such as the decentralization of distribution of government documents after being printed.
He said once a modern government press is put in place, it would be able to print all documents in time, and that distribution would be strengthened to ensure the documents reach the intended persons in time.
Other members of the task force during the forum that was also attended by Malindi Deputy County Commissioner David Lusava were Japheth Kimutai, Elizabeth Wangui, Eng. Denis Khandiri, Victor Lomaria, Ruth Murage, Andrew Simiyu, and Jacob Khavi.
By Emmanuel Masha
