The Public Service Commission (PSC) says centralisation of government advertising has led to delays in announcements of vacancies and denied many applicants wishing to join the civil service the opportunity to do so.
The commission says it is unable to reach a wide pool of potential applicants as envisaged. “The commission experienced a number of challenges in the performance of its functions.
Some include centralisation of advertisements to the Government Advertising Agency (GAA) leading to delays in advertisement of vacancies and inability to reach the widest pool of potential applicants as planned,” the commission said in a report to Parliament.
The government in July 2015 created a centralised agency to handle all its media advertising. It was meant to consolidate and manage advertising with the aim of cutting costs.
In a circular, Treasury secretary Henry Rotich informed the Attorney-General, principal secretaries, chief executives of all State corporations and independent constitutional commissions of the creation of the GAA, a body charged with authorising public sector advertising and managing consolidated government advertising funds.
Creation of the agency was part of a government austerity drive that has failed to take off. It was meant to cut government spending on travel, hospitality and advertising, but so far only the publicity budget has been cut while the other budget lines continue to rise.
Under the Treasury’s directive, accounting officers are required to submit quarterly advertising plans to GAA. Cabinet secretaries are also required to ensure that adverts exceeding Sh3 million are submitted to the GAA for approval.
PAYE Tax Calculator
Note: The results are not exact but very close to the actual.
