KBC requires robust govt backing to fulfil its mandate – Kabogo

Cabinet Secretary Nominee for ICT and Digital Economy William Kabogo has committed to ensuring that the public broadcaster, Kenya Broadcasting Corporation (KBC), receives substantial government support to enhance its operations and effectiveness.

Speaking during his vetting for the CS position at County Hall in Parliament, Kabogo outlined KBC’s potential to become one of the world’s leading media enterprises, stating that it needs strong backing, particularly in financial terms, to achieve this goal.

Acknowledging the critical role of a public broadcaster, Kabogo says if MPs confirm his nomination, he will lead efforts to ensure KBC is adequately supported to fulfil its constitutional mandate.

“I want to be the one who sorts KBC,” he told the lawmakers who inquired about his plans for the national broadcaster.

The former Kiambu Governor stated that he would prioritize obtaining modern equipment for the broadcaster to enhance its capability to deliver quality programming and services.

“I will send out a team to the world online, and find out what sort of equipment KBC requires and how its needs to be brought back to the position of the world class broadcasting station,” he promised.

He mentioned that the government would explore options such as leasing to acquire the essential equipment for KBC.

“There is a situation where you don’t have to buy equipment. You can lease equipment. And the lease of the equipment is responsible for managing and keeping the equipment and if it fails, they bring in a new equipment. That may be cheaper. Because if you buy equipment today, and they say the life of that equipment is 5 years, so does it mean KBC should spend another ksh.12 billion in reorganizing KBC?,” he said.

Kabogo indicated that he would engage MPs to address the financial challenges faced by the broadcaster to enhance its operations.

“KBC needs a total overhaul. It needs to be reassessed, how it is operating. If you look at BBC, Al Jazeera and others, they have a contribution from state that funds public broadcasting. So that KBC may have a wing of public broadcasting and the commercial division that takes care of its commercial entity,” he stated.

However, he dismissed suggestions for KBC to sell off some of its assets to finance its operations, arguing that this approach is not sustainable in the long term.

“I have talked to a couple of people and they say KBC has a lot of land, and they could sell their land and revamp KBC financially,” he said.

“From this perspective, when you sell the first parcel to address employee salaries, pensions, and unpaid statutory deductions, and perhaps purchase a few cameras, KBC may soon find itself in the same predicament a year later. Eventually, selling the eighth parcel leaves them with no land left to sell,” Kabogo explained.