Public Participation on modernization of Government Press

Machakos,

Friday, November 3, 2023

KNA by Anne Kangero

A Presidential Taskforce has been formed on the Modernization and Transformation of the Government press into an efficient and commercially viable entity by conducting public participation.

A Member of the Taskforce Mr. Collins Kiprono, while speaking to the press at the Machakos Social hall on Thursday, said that the Government press is where all documents are printed such as birth certificates, title deeds, Ids, passports and marriage certificate.

Kiprono who is also the Secretary Legal Affairs in the office of the president, said that most machines used at the government press are old and slow and that’s why the President put up a task force to modernize the Government press which is a space with a lot of opportunities.

“The institution called Government Press has been neglected for a long time and the machines are obsolete that’s why the task force is working on modernizing and transforming it,” added Kiprono.

He added that they want to empower the government press by providing new machines and giving it the ability to perform its work faster and easier and increase the capacity, efficiency and security of government documents.

Kiprono noted that one of the proposals they are getting from the public participation fora is to devolve the government press and they are still collecting feedback to compile from other counties and send it to the president.

“We are going to all the 47 counties to seek their views then we incorporate all the views before we submit our recommendations to the president,” said Kiprono.

He added that one of the challenges the government press is facing is outsourcing and so they want to build the local capacity to print all the documents without outsourcing.

Kiprono pointed out that as a taskforce they are to identify the opportunities that would arise from its modernization and to also consider and review previous Government processes and reports aimed at modernizing the Government press.

Francisca Mutinda who is the Machakos Chair Maendeleo ya Wanawake said that most women are left at home and do not understand the services offered by the government press and so she urged the government to take the services to the village level and educate the locals on its importance.

Mutinda added that the government press services should be taken to the villages for the old people, vulnerable groups and Persons with Disability (PWD), who could not travel for the public participation and give their opinion on its modernization.

“If these messages can be disseminated to the village level through a public baraza then it will be of good use to the public and will help the locals understand it better,” said Mutinda.

The Maendeleo ya Wanawake chair further requested that all documents issued by the Government press should be written in Kiswahili for those who are not good in English and to maintain fairness.

Courtesy; KNA