State Allocates Sh100 Million for Digital Communications Team

In a move that has sparked immediate controversy, Kenya’s Ministry of Information, Communication, and Technology (ICT) has announced plans to allocate KES 100 million annually to recruit social media influencers to promote government messaging online. The initiative, outlined in the recently published National Communication Strategy for 2024-2027, aims to “positively profile the government brand” across digital platforms.

The plan involves hiring 30 social media personalities—10 “macro-influencers” with followings exceeding 100,000 people and 20 “micro-influencers” with smaller but engaged audiences. These digital ambassadors will be tasked with creating hashtags, promoting government initiatives, and what the ministry describes as “countering misinformation” online.

According to the strategy document, macro-influencers will receive KES 100,000 quarterly, while micro-influencers will earn KES 50,000 for their services. The document candidly acknowledges the government’s struggle to maintain control of public narratives in the digital age.

“With the rise of digital media, the government has found it increasingly difficult to control information as multiple voices have emerged,” states the strategy paper, effectively revealing the motivation behind the new initiative.

The timing of this program appears to be a direct response to the significant youth-led protests that have swept across Kenya in recent years. These demonstrations, primarily organized on platforms like X (formerly Twitter) and TikTok, demonstrated the power of social media to mobilize citizens—especially younger Kenyans—independently of traditional media channels.

Political analysts view the move as an attempt by the government to regain narrative control in digital spaces where official messaging has struggled to gain traction. Dr. Mercy Karanja, a digital communications expert at the University of Nairobi, notes that the plan represents a significant shift in government communication strategy.

“The government has recognized that traditional press releases and official statements aren’t reaching younger demographics effectively,” Karanja explained. “But there’s a fundamental misunderstanding about how influence works in digital spaces—authenticity matters, and paid promotion is easily identified by savvy users.”

Critics have been quick to condemn the initiative as a potential misuse of public funds. Opposition leaders have questioned whether the KES 100 million might be better directed toward pressing national needs such as healthcare or education. Hassan Mwangi, an opposition spokesperson, called the plan “a blatant attempt to create digital mercenaries using taxpayer money.”

Civil society organizations have raised concerns about the ethical implications. The Kenya Human Rights Commission issued a statement questioning the fine line between combating misinformation and suppressing legitimate criticism of government policies and actions.

“Who determines what constitutes ‘misinformation’ in this context?” asked Janice Odhiambo, the Commission’s digital rights coordinator. “There’s a genuine risk that this program could be weaponized to silence dissent rather than promote factual discourse.”

Digital marketing professionals have also expressed skepticism about the likely effectiveness of such a program. Moses Kimani, who manages influencer campaigns for several Kenyan brands, points out that transparency and authenticity are crucial in the influencer space.

“The moment audiences realize an influencer is being paid specifically to promote government narratives, their credibility often diminishes,” Kimani said. “This is especially true among Gen Z users who are highly attuned to detecting inauthentic content.”

The 2024 and 2025 protests demonstrated that Kenya’s youth can rapidly mobilize through organic digital networks—a viral TikTok video from an ordinary citizen often generated more engagement than official government communications. The new strategy appears to acknowledge this reality while attempting to harness similar mechanisms for official messaging.

As the program prepares to launch, questions remain about the selection process for these influencers and how their performance will be measured. The Ministry of ICT has yet to provide specific details on these operational aspects of the initiative.

For a government trying to connect with its increasingly digital citizenry, the KES 100 million gamble represents either an innovative adaptation to changing communication landscapes or, as critics suggest, a costly attempt to artificially manufacture support where organic endorsement is lacking.