The remarks were delivered by Owalo on a live show on Wednesday night.
Despite this, the CS maintains that the action is a reaction to new problems in the media ecosystem rather than an attempt to destroy the media.
“As you can see, funding the media is not the responsibility of the government. Despite the fact that the government must develop advertising in the media, it cannot be the exclusive source of funding for it. You need to think creatively. Possibly without the packaging. You can’t carry on operating your company in the same manner as before. Furthermore, you cannot consider the government to be the exclusive source of income for the media. You have to change with the times,” Owalo said.
“I don’t understand why the government should continue spending the amount of money that is spent on advertisement income, despite the fact that I don’t want to foreclose on some of the plans I have as the Cabinet Secretary in charge of that functional mandate. In the not too distant future, we’re going to fully reengineer that area. But keep in mind that we do not oppose the media; rather, we must react to new problems in their environment, including but not limited to technology.” added Owalo
Owalo also reaffirmed his position as the government’s designated ICT spokesperson. As a result, he downplayed attitudes held by other top government officials about journalists.
“Let me explain. The official stance of the government is that we uphold the media’s right to freedom of expression as set forth in our 2010 Constitution. The government has never categorically indicated that the freedom of the press will not be protected. We value the media’s freedom. Freedom of speech is something we respect.
The CS asserted that journalists favored President William Ruto’s opponent in the August 2022 Election and were prejudiced in their reportage.
“Let’s confront the facts. I think the recent elections are still giving the media a hangover. During the most recent elections, the media was by no means objective. And it appears that the media has yet to understand that the candidate they supported in the previous elections did not win,” according to Owalo.
His remarks follow President Ruto’s appointment of millionaire Narendra Raval to lead the steering committee charged with overseeing reforms at the Government Press a fortnight prior.
Raval will be in charge of a task group with the responsibility of modernizing and making the Government Press into an effective and profitable organization, according to Head of Public Service Felix Koskei.
