More than a dozen communication agencies, including NSE-listed firm Scangroup, are battling for a lucrative tender to provide public relations and media services to the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC).
Sixteen firms have submitted proposals seeking to offer the electoral agency a range of services such as PR, media buying, advertising, digital, and media campaigns in the run-up to and the elections.
Other agencies fighting to win the tender estimated at about Sh400 million are Transcend, Media Edge, Express DDB, Homeboyz, Saracen, and Professional Marketing Services, who will be tasked with propping up the image of the IEBC.
“The commission seeks to reposition itself as a respectable corporate brand in the provision of electoral services as well as enhance public confidence and participation in the electoral process,” the IEBC said in the tender notice which closed on December 28, 2016.
“The objectives of the consultancy will be to educate, motivate and encourage citizens, voters and all electoral stakeholders to effectively participate in and support the 2017 General Election.”
The firms are being evaluated and the successful bidder will know be known by end of next week, being 30 days after the bids were publicly opened.
The Dream Factory Advertising, Tentacle Communications, Khweza Consulting, Swivel Marketing, Triple Edge Media, and South African from Bigradap are also angling for the juicy deal.
IEBC officials mid last year told lawmakers that the agency plans to spend about Sh500 million to educate voters and carry out public campaigns through mass media, social media, and other platforms such as billboards.
The winning firm will bear the headache of restoring a tainted IEBC brand given the serious integrity and credibility issues facing the agency that led to the exit of the Ahmed Issack Hassan-led team.
“The commission is enhancing both the internal and external communication for improved programme implementation, corporate image and public trust in the electoral process,” says IEBC in its August 2017 election blueprint dubbed ‘Election Operations Plan.’
Only one in every three Kenyans or 34 per cent of the population have confidence in the IEBC, according to the latest poll by research firm in June 2016.
Allegations that top officials at the electoral body pocketed hefty bribes has eroded Kenyans’ trust and confidence in the agency that registered a paltry 1.4 million new voters in last year’s mass listing exercise out of a target of 4.1 million, reflecting widespread apathy.
A fresh mass voter registration opened on Monday with the IEBC targeting to list six million new voters.
The IEBC’s corporate image suffered a beating over the handling of the contested 2013 polls.
The elections will be on August 8.
Source: Business Daily Africa
