Cash-strapped Government Press is seeking Sh300 million from the Treasury to upgrade its ageing plant in a move that will see the agency increase its charges.
Interior Principal Secretary Karanja Kibicho told Parliament that the Government Press is reviewing its services to bring the cost of printing documents to the market rates.
Dr Kibicho said the Government Press is grossly underfunded yet it has huge potential.
Cash-strapped Government Press is seeking Sh300 million from the Treasury to upgrade its ageing plant in a move that will see the agency increase its charges.
Interior Principal Secretary Karanja Kibicho told Parliament that the Government Press is reviewing its services to bring the cost of printing documents to the market rates.
Dr Kibicho said the Government Press is grossly underfunded yet it has huge potential.
He said the Sh300 million that has been requested in the next budget will go towards preparatory work for modernisation of the printing plant.
“I sent the Government Printer to South Africa to benchmark on how best we can upgrade and mordernise our local plant. The sale of some of our services is not in tandem with the market rate,”Dr Kibicho told MPs.
“They can’t break even and there is a proposal to review the charges, make it financially independent and get them a modern printing press.”
This will also raise the cost of purchasing government documents such as budgets, Economic Surveys and Acts of Parliament among others by private individuals.
The Government Printer currently sales Controller of Budget and Auditor-General reports at Sh5,000 per volume, an act of Parliament (Sh110) and Commissions of Inquiry reports such as the Waki report (Sh1800).
Dr Kibicho said the review will affect the cost of other services including Gazette Notices which is currently sold at Sh60.
The Government Printer charges Ministries for printing Gazzette supplements at a range of Sh15 for two pages to Sh180 for a maximum of 40 pages.
The Government Press is the designated printer of all security related documents including title deeds, log books, birth and death certificates and revenue stamps.
The Ministry said the Press currently charge the Ministry of Lands, the Civil Registration Department, the National Transport Safety Authority (NTSA) and the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics (Knbs) among others for printing documents at subsidised cost which are way below the market value.
The Ministry, however, said the Government Press does not charge the National Assembly and the Senate as well as the Treasury for printing documents including the voluminous budget estimates.
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