NAIROBI, Kenya, Apr 26 – Five hundred new jobs are to be created in the Department of Information and Communication, at the Ministry of Information.
This follows the restructuring of the department as it seeks to establish more information bureaus in all counties countrywide.
Making the announcement on Tuesday, Information Minister Samuel Poghisio said the department would be tasked with collecting information and news items that will be made available to Kenyans across the country.
"For many years this department was ignored and the various field stations begun to be weakened, decentralising news gathering in the country," Mr Poghisio said.
The Minister said the restructuring was meant to devolve services within the department to the county governments created under the new Constitution.
"The issue here is that this department is going to be represented in all 47 Counties in equal measure," he said.
Director of Information Ezekiel Mutua said they had already set up operations in 30 counties with the remaining 17 to be established by June 2012.
Among the changes will be the creation of the office of the Information Secretary who will be deputised by two directors in charge of information and communication.
The Department of Information is charged with filling public relation offices within all the ministries as well as regional public information officers. It also runs the Kenya News Agency as well as the Kenya Today newspaper.
The minister said the creation of new jobs within the ministry would help it to become more efficient in delivering services.
"This department has really been unfairly treated and now it\’s getting back its lost glory," he said.
Mr Poghisio also said the ministry would conduct an internal audit within its departments to ensure various tribes are represented within all departments.
"We need to shape up the whole ministry because it\’s a ministry that gives the face of the country," he said.
An audit by the National Cohesion and Integration Commission revealed that ethnicity is still prevalent in government jobs with the Kikuyu, Kalenjin, Luo, Luhya, Kamba, Meru and Kisiis taking up 70 percent of all government jobs.
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