True Love Magazine’s owner and publisher, Carol Mandi has been touted among those leading in the race to become the new government spokesperson.
This is after former police spokesman Charles Owino who until last week was just a stone throw away from taking the coveted position was edged out due to high-stakes lobbying within the corridors of power.
Owino has today afternoon been appointed as the chair of the Kenya Institute of Mass Communication (KIMC). This appointment which comes as a consolation has automatically disqualified Owino from the race to become Kenya Kwanza’s first government spokesperson.
Reliable sources within the state’s machinery say that at least six candidates had been shortlisted for the coveted job. According to the sources, Mandi who has almost three decades in the media industry was as this evening leading the race.
Things could however change, as they always do in big political appointments where intense lobbying is the norm. If they don’t, Kenya may as well have its first female government spokesman in a few days.
Mandi began her career in 1995 as an editorial intern before joining Nation Media Group.
In 2004, she became an editor with Media24 which then published True Love, Drum and Move magazines. When Media24 folded their business in Kenya, Mandi bid for the magazine franchises and took over in 2010 as publisher of True Love and Drum.
From their savings and debts, Mandi and her husband acquired the publishing license and established Carole Mandi Media Limited (CMML) in 2010. True Love relaunched in 2010 and Drum East Africa in January 2011. In December 2012, Carole Mandi Media launched a bi-monthly home, garden and lifestyle magazine Home & Living.
The government spokesperson position fell vacant in October last year after its previous occupant Colonel Cyrus Oguna resigned to take up a job at the Siaya County as Chief of Staff to governor James Orengo.
Oguna was directly appointed to the position in 2019 by former ICT Cabinet Secretary Joe Mucheru. His predecessor Eric Kiraithe was also a direct appointee.
The Kenya Kwanza government has however taken a different approach. The Public Service Commision in February announced that the position of government spokesman will be filled competitively.
For one to be an eligible applicant, one needed to be a Kenyan citizen, served for a minimum period of 15 years as a media or communication practitioner.
