c
REPUBLIC OF KENYA
MINISTRY OF INFORMATION AND BROADCASTING ANNUAL REPORT 1969
Tbree Shillings - 1971
1 3 MARS 1973 l
MINISTRY OF INFORMATION AND BROADCASTING ANNUAL REPORT 1969 MINISTRY OF INFORMATION AND BROADCASTING ANNUAL REPORT 1969
GENERAL
· The remarkable successes which have been recorded in various sections of the Ministry of. Information and Broadcasting during 1969 cannot justifiably be attributed wholly to one deliberate planning. Rather the successes could rightly be a result of spontaneous responses by various services to the demand made by situations arising from the results of calculated and sometimes out of the ordinary eve~ts occurr.ing in the country in conjonction with the progress of the develop ment plan which ît was the duty of the Minîstry to publicize and promo te. Consequent to this phenomenon, the services of the Ministry bad to be deployed in a manner rthat would bring realization of the progress. to ail citizens ali over the country, and allay unjustified criticism of sorne of the services. In the course of providing these services, the Ministry creditably acquitted itself during the year despite the many impediments encountered in the process, in the form of shottage of staff, inadequate staff of the right calibre, shortage of finance and a host of mechanical breakdowns, poor reception as weil as frequent over-·extension of the depleted staff in an endeavour to respond to numerous sudden events which· took place in 1969. This did not however, take the spirit out of the Ministry's personnel. Despite peak period pressure in 1969 during elections and prior to Christmas, the Minis try handled the situation calmly and efficiently and fulfilled its function of ensuring ,that Wandnchi were kept informed of Government policies, plans, achievements, actions and the happenings not only around them but also outsîde Kenya. As is rightly stated elsewhere in the report, perhaps the unique feature the services· bad to take accoun't of during the year is the hùge corps of foreign and local visitors who visited varions parts of the country. in one capacity or ·the other a•s weil as far-reaching political evolution the country bas experienced since .independence, coupled with the tremendous transformation which was taking place in the country during the year. This is, of course; to say nothing· of· the many. varied activities undertaken by the President Mzee Jomo Kenyatta ahd, Ministers ali over the country visiting people, initia ting projects or inspecting existing ones. Corps of foreign journalists visited Kenya during the year and carrîed home information about Kenya for the publicity of Kenya in their réspective countries of origin. . . The all-embracing successes achieved with the Iimited resources were the laying of t:he foundation stone by the President at Mazeras for the Coast Television Trans riiissiOti :station. Three more libraries were added to the three existing on~. The Mini~try's Reference l.Jibrary moved into better accomrnoqaticm .at Information House. Outside vedeo recordings were increased and Kènya · Institute ·of Mass Communi"ation was opened. Under the radio programme a fool-proof technique was evolved to obviate loss of revenue resulting from commercial "slips" while on ·the externat pro grammes, VOK · was able to supplement late programmes with acceptable "rèpeats" froin local sources. It is of significance perhaps to note that the crest of performance of S<)me of the Mini.stry's services was obviously reached during the election period and for the VOK, during the B.A. Safari Rally, when the services were pulled to the breaking point. The result, as the report will show, was a job weil done. Another remarkable service wa.s the enormous amount of publications produced by the Publications Section during the year, explaining to the W ananchi what they wished to know about particular Government actions or policy, as weil as entertaining them, despite the fact that the demand was greater than could be catered for. While most departments continued to report glowing successes in the field, sorne underlined particular difficulties faced during ,the year which it !llppears will need sober re-asse.ssment in the immediate future. To underline the major ones, North-Eastern Province for example points out a decision made on its new transmission adversely affected the efficiency of its new transmission. At the same time Photographie Section mentions a colour laboratory promised but which never materialized, while Chief Librarian refers to a bouse which rwould have been taken over by the Ministry of Works for library at Garissa but bad to be dropped due to lack of funds. The Film Unit moreover in its aim to improve its service oails for additional equipment, while the VOK Television caUs for a centralization in the TV services. The spectrum of the services of the Ministry indicate that the major services were discharged through the following broad beads, Information Department at Headquarters and in the provinces, Kenya News Agency, Press Office, Library Service, Presidential Press Unit, Film Unit, Voice of Kenya under which come Schools Broadcasting Division, Engineering Division, Radio Programmes and Television Services. The follorwing summary then gives a review of the activiities of the Ministry during the year on departmental basis higblighting the salient successes recorded during the year despite overall visible difficulties confronted by the Ministry in va.rious fields.
Coast Province Coast Province continued to attract up-country holiday-goers, visitors and touri.sts. H.E. the President also took his working holidays in the province. It is during this time that the President formally laid the foundation stone to the Coast Transmit'ting Station at IMazerns. Another important visi'tor to the province was the President of Zambia, Dr. Kooncth Kaunda, who v~isited 'Mombasa to com mission M.V. Mlungushi at Kilindini Harbour. The occasion was also witnessed by President Mwalimu Julius Nyerere of Tanzania, Mrs. Maria Nyerere and Marna Ngina Kenyatta. The Nigerian Head of State, Major-General Yakub Gowon, also paid a courtesy cali on Mzee Kenya·tta at Mombasa. Though information work was hampered by a serious shortage of staff, a total of 1,183 news items were transmitted to the Kenya News Agency in Nairobi, most of which were used on radio and by daily newspapers.
The year was a faidy busy one for officers ~n the pmvince. Liaison wîth other Ministries, the public and other parastatal and private organizations was main tained. Visits to ali districts and divisional headquarters were made regularly. During :the year, over 5,000 copies of the President's portrait, 27,500 of Serikali Y etu, 20,000 copies of Kenya Y etu and severa! thousand copies of the Cabinet posters were distributed. In preparation for the Generai Election, 28,000 copies of Jifunze Uraia and 28,000 oopies of Guide to the General Election were also distributed in the province.
2 At the beginning of the year, the Nyali transmitting station which relays national service from Nairobi started working, but the reception was poor. Three hundred and one cases of radio defaulters were lodged in court com pared with 133 in the previous year. Fines imposed ranged from Sh. 30 to Sh. 300. Cinema shows were staged in the province, while photographs portraying development projects and social activities were taken.
North-Eastern Province The year ushered in a new era in the province. Peace was at last restored to the province. This facilitated social, economie, and political developments. Despite this, the Ministry rwas unable rto expand oorrespondingly its services ~n the province. The Government pro'Vided suooour to the victims of the drought that swept the province. Drought relief was sent to the people ·Wbile sorne families were moved to safer places. . · ' Experts such as hydrologists, water engineers, range specialists, sociologists and others were sent to .the province to advise on development plans aimed at improving the standards of living of the people of N.E. Province. During the year the General Election brought surprises in that only two of the old members of Parliament were returned, one of whom was the former Assist ant Minister for Information and Broadcasting, Mr. S. Amin. The Ministry's Film Production Unit visited the province and sho.t scenes for the Kenya 1969 film. A substantial number of news items were filed with 'the Kenya News Agency which distributed them to the Voice of Kenya and the· daily papers. Trans mission of news items to Nairobi suffered a blow as a· result of Headquarters' decision to mail news to Nairobi. The method was slow and antiquated for the transmission of fresh news. After the signing of "Arusha Accord" (friendly reLations between Kenya and Somalia), a number of foreign joumalists, television cameramen and photo graphers visited the province to report on the province as well as the effort the Kenya Government had put in uplifting the life of the Somali people •in Kenya. On broadcasting, the National and General Services broadcasts were however, slightly better in Garissa than in Mandera and Wajir Districts. The Voice of Kenya broadcast programmes pre-recorded in Somali for the Somali listeners. During the year the Provincial Office received and distributed 10,000 pub lications on various subjects, including ·the National Anthem, Kenya Y etu and Serikali Yetu. Judging from the recorded demand, more of such publications will be needed in future. Cinema shows were performed in the province. Wherever the crew went, large attendances were in evidence. Films on agricultural, educational and social development in other parts of the country were the most popular. Films on self help projects also drew keen interest among those attending the shows.
Eastern Province During the year, this office played a major role in projecting the image of the Government, its policies and achievements in improving the standards of living of the people. ·
3 The staff at Embu and at Machakos sub-office were fully occupied in pro viding information services to the peOple, guided by the motto "to inform, to educate and to entertain". In. addition to the other services two library f reading rooms were opened at Embu and Machakos. · The highlights of the year were tliree official visits to the province by H.E. the President Mzee Jomo Kenyatta. First, he opened the first ,agricultural show at Embu township, and then visited the Machakos District where he laid the foundation stone on the extension of the Machakos Hospital. During a mammoth rally which he addressed at the Machakos Stadium, 'Mzee Jomo Kenyatta announced dovemment's grant of Sb. 4.9 million to augment the Sh. 520,000 collected by the people through self-help. The third occasion was when Mzee Kenyatta laid the foundation stone for the !57,000 Provincial Headqqar.ters at Embu. Other major events. during the year inclu Central Province The highlight of events in the province was the visit of H .. E. the President w)len he opened the new Kenya Co-operative Creameries Factory at Kigatijo. Later during the day, Mzee Jomo Kenyatta addressed ra mammoth rally at the Ruringu Stadium near Nyeri township. · , .. , .. The year witnessed numerous visits by Government officiais, civil servants and many technjcal exper.ts who came to advise on how best the Government's develorpment plan could be iritplemented. Ml ov.er the province, the general elections \vere 'heM· peacefully. Severa] former members of Kenya's firs't parliament 1ost their sea1ts ·to new candidates. News stories submitted to the Kenya News Agency totalled, 1,287. Most of them were ·used by radio and. the • daily papers. Black and : white· filrns · ·viere exposed and the 'photographs used :in :tbe·daily newspapers' as weil· as ·the pro- vincial broadsheet Thiururuka Kirinyaga. · 4 The number of cinema shows in the province wa8 .low 9ue to bad ·weather. However, it is noteworthy tbat during the year about: 500,000 'pèople attebded. the few shows we staged. Our Hbrary and reading rooms functioned weil ·ànd the number of people who made use of our books and Iistened to the radio averaged 50 daily. . A ·variety of publications, including portraits of the· Pr~side~~ it.e'nyq,~y;tu, Serikali Yetu and many others were received and distributed to 'tlië public.:-.A few hundred copies of lnside Kenya Today were sold. · J • ' .'.' ' ~ . ' ) -" ~ During the month of December, the television booster station on Mbhoyas Hill broke down. lt was later repaired by the Voice of Kenya enginee!s .. Radio reèeption continued to be good throughout the year. , , .. 1 .. ,, ; . r. Rift Valley Province 1 ·; -•• r: The year 1969 was remarkable. and eventful. as far as progres.s"' .; ui• •. the.l' field:. ,,,wa,s... concerned. Develo.pment projects of ail sorts were started ôn self-help basis :anÇI 1 most of them com.pleted. :· ' · H.E. the President passed through the province during his tour of We:>tern .and Nyanza provinces. Many Ministers and top civil servants visited the .provincè tt> address rallies and participa1:e in the ceremonies for launching·self-help projectS. 'i ,. Thirty-seven candidates out of 109 who contested the .'general el~tion, were retumed to Parliament. The Vice-President and Minister for Home Affai:rs, ·Mr. D. T. Moi was among the four who were retumed unopposed. · · · · · ''j\ -, Over 1,350 news items were transmitted to the Kenya News Agency from the province, while 150 roUs of black and white film were exposed .. Mostof the news items and sorne of the photographs were used by the Voic_e of·Ken.Y!l::arr.d the daily papers. ,;, , 1, · In view of the vastness of the province, it would be pertinent for the Ministry to consider seriously, establishing sub-offices to cater for remote districts such as Samburu and Turkana in the north, and Kajiado in the extreme south. Th~se areas now need our services more than ever before. . , ~ A variety of posters and publications, including the poitr~it ·of th~ P~esidêtit, Kenya Y etu, Serikali Yetu, broadsheets and others wére received and 'distributed. Our reading rooms at Nakuru and Eldoret p.roved ·very popular througho'ufthe yea·r, with a daily average attendance of 40 people. Television reception remained good except for the early part of the year. ·.•:';·;· Nairobi/Masai . . . ~ t: j . ' ' . ' . ' -~ ; !. The year was a busy one for this section. Govemment Ministers', toured ·the districts of Narok and Kajiado to inform the .Masai whatprojecl$ the G~v~t,r:l1- ment was planning for them in order to uplin tpeir $tan~a~d,s c:>,f, ~iyirt~; 11)è,Yife President Mr. D. T. Moi laid the foundation stone 'of the 'Namanga · Self~help Health Centre during .the year and the Minister for Housing Mr. P: Ngei' pro mised to aid Kajiado township with !6,000 during 1970/72 for. its housing scheme. é ~·. ·• The two Masai districts ooiltinued to be covered nèwswise' from·. Nairobi. Severa! news items gathered from the ·districts were broadcast over VOK and published in the daily papers. Film shows .staged by •the cinéma créwi at'tracted the Masai audience greatly. · · · · ,, s The popular Masai oroadsheet Mbaa E Masai with a regular print of 1,100 copies together with varions publications were distributed during visits to the districts. Nyanza Province The most outstanding event of the year was the official opening by the President .in October of the new Nyanza General Hospital built with USSR aid. · Even tbough there were ugly incidents which tended to mar the ceremony and engineered hy a handful of callous and disgruntled individuals, the curfew clamped on Kisumu and Siayra Districts after these incidents went off peacefully. The funerals of the late Ministers, C. M. G. Argwings-Kodhek and T. J. Mboya were given very wide local and overseas coverage. This office played its full part during these difficult times. Our provincial information stand at the Kisumu Agricultural Show was judged second overall winner among the large-size stands. This is the first time in the history of our Ministry we have ever won the .precious second place in the event here. News items transmitted to the Kenya News Agency totalled 1,650; 250 black and white films were e~posed. These were gradually used by the Voice of Kenya, the local dailies and our provincial broadsheet. Cinema shows were staged throughout the province with more shows being · ooncentrated mostly on the remote a reas. Sorne of the film shows promoted agricultural, educational and health services. Over 65,000 different types of publication were received from Nairobi and distributed to the public. These included portraits of the Pres·ident, Kenya Yetu, Serikali Yetu, Teach Yourself Citizenship in different vemacU'lars and a guide to the General Election. Our library-cum-reading room continued to attract large crowds who came to read books and look at the photographs of the lunar Land ing mission. Western Province During a one-day visit to the province, H.E. the President laid the foundation stone for the Provincial Headquarters at Kakamega before he addressed a rally estimated at over 350,000 people at the Bukhungu Stadium. Government Minis ters, top civil servants and other leaders visited the province to frequently give advice on self-help projeots and to initiate new ones. Electioneering for the General Election 1ater in the year was carried out peacefully throughout the province. After the elections, 16 candidates were elected to the National Assembly. A total of 887 news items were written and 197 ro11s of film exposed. They gradually found their way to the Voice of Kenya and the daily papers. Sorne of the photographs were used on the display boards at Kakamega, Bungoma and Busia while others were used in the . broadsheet. The proposed sub-office at Busia did not materialize although the Provincial Administration bad offered accommodation and other essential facilities free of charge. People of Western Province made full use of our library-reading room · with a daily average attendance standing at 50 people. Many cinema shows were staged at different places in the province, and the public showed interest in films on development projects. 6 A total of 541,404 publications on various subjects which ranged from the portrait of the President, Kenya Yetu, Guide to .Elections, Population Census, were received and distributed. Kenya News Agency The Kenya News Agency was inaugurated by an Act of Parliament in 1963 to speed up news transmission from the provinces and overseas countries. Con sequent to this, all the provincial information offices except Garissa, are now oonnected to K.N.A. ·telex circuit. This also applies to Kenya embassies in London, Bonn, New York, Washington and Paris .. Reuters, Tass, AFP, and UPI, provide international news service. Ail of them gave satisfactory reception during 1969. The Kenya N~iws Agency was in op.eration J9 hours daily and our subscribers, i.e.; the Voice of Kenya, East African Standard, Dai/y Nation, Taifa Leo and Sunday Post, received sorne 12,134 local news -items during the year. This averaged about 50 news stories a day, with the peak period during the General Election, when the agency transmitted election results from aU over Kenya. Shortage of trained staff at the K.N.A. remained the major hurdle. Nevertheless the existing staff handled the situatioJ;~. with confidence and tenacity. There was a staff of just about 30 Editorial Assistants, Technicians, Key-punch Operators under the Editor-in-Chief. Press Office This office was kept fully occupied by the mounting General Election fever long before the launching of the revised Kanu Manifesta by President Kenyatta on November 18. During the year, we maintained excellent co-operation with provincial information offices and local and overseas ·Press. The snap announcement by Mzee Kenyatta of the date of the General Election was a thunderbolt from the blue and a pleasant surprise to many. Campaigning was carried out peacefully throughout the Republic, although the subsequent elections brought about the eclipse of 100 "old guards" including five Cabinet Ministers and 13 Assistant Ministers. The' elections were followed immediately by Mzee Jomo Kenyatta's announcement of his new Cabinet, which included five new faces. A host of foreign journalists swamped Kenya during the year, particularly immediately after the assassination of the late Mr. T. J. Mboya and just before the elections. This office was kept busy during these momentous periods. The year was full of news events·.· with unprecedented arrivais and depattures of a large number of -important visitors. Among the Vl:Ps who \'isited Kenya were the Presidents of Uganda, l'anzania, Zarnbia, Malawi, Somalia and Heads of State from Botswana, Madagascar, Lesotho and ·Ghana. Besides these, a num ber of international conferences were held in Nairobi. Ail told, a total of 12,134 news items were reoeived and distributed at an average of 40-50 stories a day. Kenya News Agency contiriued to receive the foreign news services of Reuters, AFP, UPI and Tass. Television and black and white photography coverage was given to most of the events which took place during the year. However, owing to shortage of staff, Press Office bad to curtail the coverage of the courts and arrivais at the busy Nairobi Airport. · 7 Publications The year goes down as one of the· husiest as regards the· Publicati01is .Section. Efforts of the section during the year culminated in the production ·and dis tribution of three million copies of a wide range of magazines, pamphlets, posters, brochures and leaflets. Translations into various dialects for publicity campaigns were done on behalf of o.ther Government Ministries. The section also continued to produce blacks for provincial broadsheets. It also produced 400,000 copies of the Kenya Y etu, and other Swahili magazines. Production of Serikali Yetu remained at 180,000 copies, while 16,400 copies of 1970 Calendar were produced; a1though the copies could barely meet the great demand. · The section through the Govemment Printer produced 60,000 copies of the President's portraits and 5,000 copies of Cabinet poster. The Teach Yourself Citizenship copies reaohed the ·record figrire of 1J million. ·In addition to these 40,000 copies of various ·brochures and 560,000 copies of the speech by the Vice President following .the assassination of the late Mr. T~ J. Mboya were produced. Photographie Section A total of 38,535 prints of all sizes were ~ade during the year as follows : Library . . 2,349 Press Office 14,268 Government Departments 5,386 Trade 794 There was a drop in production of about 5,600 over the previious year; though an increase in the number of negatives stored in the library amounted to 2;001. Many pbotographs produced by this section and distributed by Press Office were used by the local and overseas Press and publications. The President's Office and the State House received a large number of our photographs. During the Agricultural Show at Jamhuri Park, this section provided display photographs for Govemment Ministries and commercial firms. These ranged be tweeri 4in. x 6in. and 3 ft. in size. The large photographs ·were, however, for display boards. The section continued to replenish pbotographs on the many display boards at the Information House and i~ various parts of the provinces. The suggestion of setting up a new colour laboratory within the Photographie Section did not materialize. Had it been set up, approximately !3,000 over and above the cost of the construction of the basié laboratory installation would have been needed. The section was kept busy throughout the year by the many visits of heads of state and VlPs to Kenya. During these occasions several sets of photographie albums were prepared for presentation to the State guests as well as for our own President's use. · Features Section Eighty feature articles were released by the seètion between January 1969, and December 1969. This number reflected an increase of over 50 cent over the 1967 figure. 8 -"'''' Library Service The library' s~rvice 'èxp~n~ion _proiràmnie· ~1Î1cli· ·with;·tiié~Hel~:.cir:ü:s:is:tivas started at the close of 1968 by .the simultaneous opening of libraries at Nyeri, Kisumu and ~akamega, was continued during 1969. . ., . . ',' !.'· ', ; -' t , L.; ~ \ ~ \ ".':' :.~. \'\ \ /'.. . · Three more libniries.'lit' Errlhu~;Garissa, and Machak6s;'wù~ _ad'ded ,to:··tiiè list, but the Garissa library .(lid' lhot.>beëome operational because th'è:-M,b.W/·was not able to take over renting of the buiJ'ding acquire'd to '.bous~,·. the: .}ibrary, ·.: ~: The Embu library was. officially ci.pene'd by Mr. Peter Gaèhathi, thè .theo Per manent Secretary of this: Mini'stty; while:'·the 'libràry; oL Machak:os ~·had''th'e blessing of being officially opene'd by His Excellency the President of Kenya, Mzee Jomo ;Kènyatta. · · ·· · ·•:J .--~ ..'\··::· ,._., i ·~:_.'~ ?c,j ;-:i• ~·~~-:\ ·:~:;;·,:(· ·~~::··· Soon after .these, exp}o:ratory work was carried oUt on the feasibilHy. of con verting Mombasa, Nakuru, and Eldoret reading-rooms into libraries~ Towards the end of the year, the reference library was move'd to its present accommodation on the ground ftoor at Information House. At the moment the library holds over 10,000 volumes of books in varions subjects. Presidential Press Unit The year bas been a tight programme for the unit with work very often extend ing to Sunday as a result of heavy engagements by His Excellency the President Mzee Jomo Kenyatta and the First Lady, Marna Ngina Kenyatta at Gatundu and elsewhere. Arnong the most prominent Presiden~iaq engagements were 1aying of foun dation stones for: the Armed Forces Memorial Hospital, Extelcoms House, International Life Insurance House-aU in Nairobi; the conferring of diplomas and certificates to students of the Nairobi•·University College, a visit to Industrial Estate in Nairobi, Official Opening of Nairobi Agricultural Show as weil as Uhuru Park to mark Madaraka Day anniversary, and the formation of a new Cabinet following early December General Elections. In the provinces 'the unit provided Press service to the Presidential engage ments at Mombasa where the President received visits from Maj. Gen. Gowon of Nigeria and Gen. Ankrah of Ghana who was on a State visit. Other engagements at the coast included the laying of a foundation stone to the VOK TV Transmitting Station at Mazeras, the commissioning of merchant ship, M.V. Mlungushi, the ceremony of which was performed by President Kaunda in the presence of President Mzee Jomo Kenyatta and Mwalimu Nyerere while Uganda was represented by a high-ranking official, not to mention the many entertain ments given for the President by the coastal people in the form of traditional dances. Up-country, the unit pPovided Press servJce in the numerous engagements of the &esident in Eastern, Cen1tral, Rift VaUey, Nyanza and Westem provinces where ithe President addressed large mllies and laid founda'ti.on stones to major àevelopment projects undevtaken by rthe Government and the people. 9 A comprehensive list of ali registered schools which listened in during these school broadcasts is as follows :- Province Primary Secondary 1967 1968 1968 1969 Nyanza 296 457 49 .· 63 Western .. ' 517· 556 45 50 Rift Valley ... 518 505 50 73 Coast 154 162 33 34 Central ...... , 671 659 79 99 Eastern .465 ' 534. 38 44 North-Eastern 11 11 1 1 Nairobi 94 54 48 53 -- 2726. --2938 343 417 ~ ,r From May. onwards, Schools Broadcasting Division operated from a studio in Broadcasting House converted fm this particular purpose. The staff. visitf;d various areas during the year. The re are, however, :many a reas still to be ·visited when the op~ortunity wil,l be takèn to discuss their particular probleœS ori reception, timeta:bles, organization, Support, materials, etc. The division bas also met and discussed with .teachers · relevant programmes and stage demonstrations. Visits have also been made to seminars organized for teachers and students and the opportunity taken to appraise the role of educational broadcasts, and their overall benefit to the class Engineering (Radio) Equipment was installed in various stations at the Headquarters and at Mombasa and Kisumu to bo9st transmission. A slight improvement was recorded as a result of frequencies interchange at Mombasa and Kisumu. Despite orienta tion of aerial to improve short wave reception of Somali and Mombasa vemaculars complaints on poor reception COii'tinued to pour in, and by the close of the year no ~olution ·bad been found. · ' In Nairobi, work on the additional studios was held back for the whole year due to lack of equipment. And at Langata considerable air-time was lost due to fuilure of the main circuit breaker of the 100 Kw. HF transmitter. ·The quadrant aerial at the same· station was struck severa:t times by lighting but the air-time !ost on this account was minimal. Other equipment breakdowns were experienced at Ngong, and at Kisumu during the year, while at Kisumu additional security lights were installed. Nyali Station in Mombasa bad a trouble- free year. · · · On the staff side, there were severa! .transfers and acting appointments which ptovided local engineers with an opportunity of gaining. valuable experience. Eight members of the staff attended courses abroad, while five more attended a basic refresher course at the KIMC. · 12 Radio Programmes.- ·· · The. year 1969 started .· with ~'Ring ~us up" ·programme which rarsed over :E9,500 for the blind. A better and more petmanent method of selecti.ng new trainees was .wôdœd· out. ' ~~.; l'•' Trans,fer of ithe Traffic Department to the Radio Ôperations sêction.S wàs ~m plisheçl- resu,ting in very _substantial. reduction in the loss of revenue. ., · _. _T:h.e . studio for the, National and General services was equipped with n,ew cassette pla,ybàck machines which eliminated the risk of commercials omission due to technical· breakdowns. · Radio, coverage _for the_ East_ Af~rican _S_afari was expand~d over 196_8 cover age. The spopsoring of _the event broughtin more· rev~riue; as ,w~n: as higli prlüse from the listeners and the Press. · ·· · · · · · ·· · · · · · · - " ·::··: ··_l'. A complete job study andefficiency appraisal was done by the RTV Specialist Radio Advisor. This helped the section to pinpoint and correct weaknesses_ .in staff devèlopinent Shortage of funds to finance work of gather.ing rnateflia Television The year was one of success in all areas of progmmming. Many programming problerns arose in regard to policy changeS, late arrivais of programmes and shortage of staff. Broadly speaking, the problems were overcome through reorganization of staff and leave planning. The station experienced sorne difficulties in getting programme replacements. To overcome these difficulties temporary arrangements were made so that sorne programme "repeats" could be introduced. 13 Severa! dcx:umentaries from the E.A. Railways Corporation were hired to augment programme replacements. German Musicals from Ranstel were. also used for the same purpose with discussions providing the backbone to local programmes. The introduction early this year of "Mambo Leo"-current affairs programmes in which prominent personalities played a major rote gave a face- lift to the programme schedules. · Major events which were covered dùring the yeaT included the A.S.K. shows at Mombasa and at Nairobi, E.A. Safiari, soccer ma·tches and swimming, Jamhuri, Madaraka and Kenyatta Days, Kenya Homes Exhlibition and Staite visits. Produc tion of· "Yaliotokea." was maintained throughout the year and oovered the main Presidential activities. For the first time a serious breakdown lasting three days occurred in TV transmission. The local stand-by transmitter had :in effect to be brought in .to provide the minimum service to Nairobi area. Implementation of plans to set up Mombasa transmissions were carried out and culminated in the laying of the Foundation Stone for .the Coast Transmission. Station at Mazeras by the President. Plans for pr·ogrammes show thart: the ·televi sion service needs recogl1'ition as a separate entity. The problems ·encountered in 1969, show too obviously that there is a gmwing need for greater ceDJtralization of TV services. 14 GPK 1794-2m-'ij71