MPs take on Isaboke over Sh500m advertising revenue from MyGov

A parliamentary watchdog committee yesterday put Broadcasting and Telecommunications Principal Secretary Stephen Isaboke to task over alleged mismanagement of Sh500 million meant for advertising, printing and distributing MyGov pullout in four leading newspapers.

The National Assembly Public Accounts Committee (PAC) expressed concern that taxpayers may not have received value for the money.

This came after a report for the 2022/2023 financial year by the office of the Auditor General queried the department’s expenditure of Sh495,389,974 for advertising, printing, and distributing the MyGov pullout through the Government Advertising Agency (GAA) to four media houses.

Notably, the agency oversees placement of government notices and advertisements in MyGov pull out, published by contracted media houses.

However, a review of contract documents showed the revenue generated from advertisements placed in MyGov did not fully offset the amounts paid to the four media houses. “In the circumstances, the value for money from the expenditure of Sh495,389,974 could not be confirmed,” read the report.

And in light of this, the House team sought to understand whether there was any value for money and why the media houses had not been fully paid for their service.

The committee’s chairperson Tindi Mwale, also Butere MP, pressed the PS seeking to know whether circulation figures were verifiable, noting that despite repeated directives, the GAA had failed to provide clear records on how many copies were printed, distributed, or returned.

Gatundu South MP Gabriel Kagombe criticised the payments made to specifically, People Daily newspaper, alleging that the media outlet had long ceased printing yet continued receiving payments.

“Through the chair, this is actually theft. We know there is one newspaper that stopped printing but the PS is telling us that they are still spending millions on it in advertising. Did the government get value for the half a billion spent on printing the MyGov pullout? “ posed Kagombe.

“They claim to have paid for printing and distribution, but this is outright theft of public funds. This committee has repeatedly asked the PS to monitor what goes to the press, how many copies are printed and how many are returned. They have refused, and the only reason is that theft is taking place in that State Department,” he added.

PS Isaboke was however quick to note that the accounts under review covered the financial year ending June 2023, when the People Daily was still in operation and had a valid contract with the GAA. This, he said, could be verified using documents to be submitted before the committee. 

The committee heard that indeed there was value for money by printing and advertising through the dailies as the government had been spending far less using the centralised system compared to years prior.

“Historically, government expenditure on advertising was much higher. The GAA was established to plug this gap and bring efficiency. While the system is young and still on a learning curve, the intention is to deliver services more efficiently,” Isaboke observed.

He also told the House team that the department had suffered challenges such as failure to realize a forecast revenue of Sh1 billion and only managed Sh441 million. He however attributed the shortfall to ministries, departments, and agencies failing to pay for services on time.

Rarieda MP Otiende Amollo however challenged the PS to table evidence supporting his submissions that comparative government advertising costs -before and after the creation of the Government Advertising Agency (GAA) showed that there was value for money.

“You stated that prior to the GAA, cumulative government spending on advertising was higher than it is now. If that is the case, then provide an analysis of the three years before GAA was established against the three years under its management. Only with such evidence can we determine whether there is value for money,” Amollo reiterated.