Principal Secretary for Broadcasting nominee Stephen Isaboke has promised to prioritise payment of bills owed to media houses and to protect press freedom.

Isaboke, who is coming in to replace Edward Kisiangani whose tenure was characterised by a sustained war against media, also told the National Assembly Committee on Communication, Information and Innovation that he would turn around the fortunes of KBC, the State broadcaster.

The former Multichoice Group chief executive told the House team that his net worth is Sh680.5 million.

Committee vice chairperson Alfah Mirukah revisited a controversial order by Kisiang’ani which restricted government ministries and parastatals to advertising exclusively with KBC and sought to know whether Isaboke would be following in Kisiangani’s footsteps in gagging the media or usher in a new era of relations.

“Your predecessor Kisiangani, towards the tail end of his tenure, gagged the media by instituting directives that denied media houses adverts. If approved, are you not going to use those powers to gag the media to make it sing your song? What happens if the President is not happy with a particular media house?” Mirukah posed.

In response, Isaboke said he would prioritise engagement with the media to avert any conflict that may arise.

“Guided by law, if there are tensions between the media and government or other institutions, my first step will be engagement and not gagging. From there, interventions will follow,” he submitted.

To address a key pain point for the media, which is pending bills running into billions owed by the State, Isaboke said he would take up the matter with the Treasury and the Presidency if need be, and ensure it was addressed.

“It is unfortunate that we have seen some members of the media in the streets protesting due to non-payment. If I am confirmed for this position, I will lobby the relevant entities to ensure there is cash which we will put into circulation in the media houses,” Isaboke said.

Committee chair John Kiarie pressed the nominee to reveal his three-year strategic plan to which he answered that it involved a revamp of the national broadcaster.

“KBC is like a rich old man owning real-estate but who is walking in tatters. I plan on using its assets to ensure its prosperity. I will work by the law to see how we can utilize its resources better through partnering and leasing but not selling. It is my intention to keep its wealth intact but ensure it emerges as the leading media broadcaster,” said Isaboke.

Other immediate priorities, he said, include digitization of the post office services by incorporating e-commerce to shore up revenues and help craft laws to combat cybercrime.

At the National Assembly Committee on Health, Medical Services Principal Secretary nominee Ouma Oluga proposed the carrying out of a corruption risk assessment to deal with chronic corruption.

Dr Oluga, who declared his net worth to be Sh196 million, outlined the measure as an urgent step in the battle against corruption. 

The Seme MP James Nyikal-led committee had sought Oluga’s strategic plan in dealing with cartels at Afya House, the Health ministry headquarters.

Oluga said the assessment would help expose the systemic weak points usually exploited by cartels in the ministry and would aid in the implementation of a corruption prevention plan as part of addressing the problem.

“We have to do a corruption risk assessment and look at those weak points. The office of the Auditor General has been producing reports, they come to this Parliament and we discuss them,” he said.

“More importantly, with that corruption assessment, we must come up with a corruption prevention plan to work on those institutional and governance issues that enable cartels. The Cabinet Secretary has also pronounced himself on this issue,” Oluga added.

The former Kenya Medical Practitioners and Dentists Union secretary general further pledged to leverage on his background as a unionist to address some of the challenges in the health sector.

Meanwhile, Prof Shaukat Ali Abdulrazak, the nominee for Research and Innovation PS emphasized the importance of learning maths and science subjects at all levels. He had appeared before the Education committee for vetting.

“We will not have innovators, entrepreneurs and scientists if that talent is not nurtured from the very beginning. I believe learning science and maths is critical, and having enough teachers with the capacity to teach STEM subjects in our schools is important, “he said.