Four Heads in Two Years: Syahganda Appointed to Lead Government Communication Agency

The Government Communication Agency (Bakom) is now being led by Syahganda Nainggolan. This marks the fourth time the institution has changed leaders in the last two years.

Syahganda takes over the chairmanship of Bakom, replacing Mohammad Qodari, who has transitioned to the role of Secretary and Member of the Presidential Advisory Council (Wantimpres). Both were inaugurated by President Prabowo Subianto at the Merdeka Palace, Jakarta, on Friday (1 October).

“I will remain loyal to the 1945 Constitution of the Republic of Indonesia and will execute all laws and regulations with the utmost integrity in my service to the nation and state,” Syahganda stated during his oath of office.

“I shall uphold professional ethics and perform my duties to the best of my ability with full responsibility,” he continued.

Bakom is an agency established by Prabowo in September 2025. The agency is responsible for communicating the policies and strategic programmes of the central and regional governments.

Such policy communications were previously managed by the Presidential Communication Office (PCO). This institution was formed in August 2024 during the administration of Joko Widodo (Jokowi).

At that time, the first head of the PCO was Hasan Nasbi. The PCO operated during the early stages of the Prabowo administration.

Then, in September 2025, Prabowo transformed the PCO into Bakom through Presidential Regulation (Perpres) Number 96 of 2025.

After the PCO was officially merged into Bakom, Prabowo removed Hasan Nasbi and appointed Angga Raka Prabowo as the head of Bakom in September 2025.

Angga Raka’s tenure at Bakom was relatively short, lasting approximately seven months from September 2025 to April 2026.

In April, Prabowo appointed Muhammad Qodari to replace Angga Raka. Qodari led Bakom from April until 1 October 2026.

Qodari is no longer leading Bakom as he has been assigned a new role as Secretary and Member of the Presidential Advisory Council.

Simultaneous with Qodari’s transition, Prabowo appointed Syahganda to become the head of Bakom. Consequently, counting from the formation of the PCO to its merger into Bakom, there have been four individuals leading the agency within a two-year period.