The government has recruited 50 Information officers (IOs), 10 Public Communication officers (PCOs), two human Resource OFFICERS and three economists to be deployed in the Ministry of Information, Communication, Technology (ICT), Innovation and Youth Affairs.
Speaking to the newly appointed officers in a Nairobi hotel today, ICT Cabinet Secretary, Joe Mucheru said the government is a place one can make a difference as long as they work as a team.
“For information officers who will be posted across counties, the beauty of technology now is that it allows you to work in a group and this makes it easier to work as a team”, he added.
He urged IOs who will be responsible for information to make sure that the truth is what comes out when they are reporting.
“The truth is elusive nowadays, many things come out and people are not sure what is what and so as information and communication officers, you need to be able to ensure that the right information is there and you are able to communicate to people so that the country is able to move forward in the right direction and for it to grow”, the CS said.
The country, he noted, needs development and more people especially the young to be employed saying with jobs livelihoods will be working and helping the community and this cannot be done without the right information.
The challenges that we have now is that you will be working a lot on your own wherever you are and although you have other officers, you will need to work as a team and make sure that at all times you have all the information and the truth of what is going on.
Mucheru challenged the new recruits to also know what to communicate and when the information should be communicated since times are changing and that there is a lot of things that they will need to learn on the way. However he also asked them to teach, implement and find a way to make things work better.
“In your recruitment, as qualified people who have been employed by the Public Service Commission (PSC) on merit, we trust and believe you will be able to deliver”, Mucheru said .
He noted that normally citizens complain about the government saying they hear things but are never communicated to or told and yet it’s the ministry’s mandate to give information.
“You will all have that responsibility to collect that information, to engage the people and to ensure they know what is going on. But more importantly, there are so many things that are going on that the people on the ground need to be part of”, he added
Being new, young and vibrant information and communication officers, the CS said that they are needed by the ministry and that the government is committed to improving communication in order to improve the lives of Kenyans through job creation.
Chief Administration Secretary (CAS) Maureen Mbaka said the new recruited officers will be eyes and ears of the government saying she is elated that all the young employees are younger than 35 years.
“This shows the governments’ commitment in recruiting the youth and young people and even as they join the government and go to the ground, my advice for them is that they have the young energy to learn from those who are experienced.” Mbaka added.
Government Spokesperson, Col. Rtd. Cyrus Oguna advised the new recruits to understand the crucial role that they play in the Ministry in terms of programmes and policies.
“It will be up to them to communicate and understand what the government is doing and since this is a very important ministry in many ways, you must realise and appreciate that you are going to be key in communicating government policies and also government programmes that touch on the youth,” he said.
As a ministry, he called upon them to empower people, inform them not just about their own ministry but also all other ministries.
“As information officers, its different from the others and it should be a Monday to Monday job every single day since information of an event does not know a public holiday and therefore your phones must stay open all the time.” Oguna said .