Why you need to have a crystal clear New Year

By Angela Ambitho

My fellow Kenyan, allow me to share with you the Proper Gander fable. There was once a fine gander who spent most of his time singing to his wife and children.

A passer-by heard him singing and remarked, “What a proper gander!” The neighbouring old hen overheard this and told her husband that she heard “propaganda” talk in the gander homestead.

The conniving Rooster went around the next day telling everyone the gander was a very dangerous bird, more than likely a hawk in gander’s clothing. He repeated this rumour throughout the land.

Soon other birds made claim of the gander’s so called ills. The cockerel reported she had seen the gander talking to hawks in the forest.

The duck claimed that the gander told him he didn’t believe in anything. A fowl recalled seeing the gander throw something that looked like a bomb.

Finally everybody snatched sticks and stones and chased the gander out of his home chanting; “Hawk-lover! Unbeliever! Bomb-thrower!”

As you enjoy pristine silence this festive season, remember that the beginning of the year will probably be characterised by unprecedented negative propaganda. You shall either become a passive or active victim of this vice much like the birds in the fable. Many are the Roosters who will spread persistent rumours, falsehoods and misinformation for the purpose of injuring an institution, cause or a person. They will masterfully design communication aimed at fooling you by appealing predominantly to your emotions rather than to your reason.

Let me now share with you some of my readings on the techniques they will use to seduce you.

The most common method is name-calling. Soon, you will be bombarded with mass media messages on Wazees on one hand and Vijanas on the other; ‘Out with the old and in with the new’ they will chant.

You will be told about reformists and conformists; the liberators and the perpetrators. But, there will also be bare knuckle, grapevine messaging hinged on ethnic based stereotyping.

Here, you will be hammered with messages such as; that tribe can never lead because they are uncircumcised or that tribe has no business acumen and would as such cause economic quagmire. This will cleverly transform you from a passive observer to an active participant and rumour monger.

The spin-doctors will then apply glittering generalities embellished in vague sweeping statements and catchphrases, which mean different things to different people whilst yielding favourable feelings across the board.

They will sing songs of peace, love, unity and prosperity. They will shout on rooftops that the time is now, the place is here and the beneficiary is you. And whilst these generalities will often do little or nothing at all they will fill your heart with glee. You will be a convertee.

These gurus will then employ the transfer technique through the authority of something you respect and revere like the National Anthem or the Kenyan Flag and use it to stir your emotions.

Perhaps one of the most convincing propaganda strategies is the use of ordinary people who will be coached to speak in a manner that resonates with the masses. They will convince you that only their candidate understands where the shoe pinches. In the end you will become a ‘believer’ in the cause.

You see, brilliant propagandists know that any lie told repeatedly becomes truth. They will pump your mind with fear and convince you that theirs is the best way.

Ultimately, the onus will be on you to read the writing on the wall and be extremely weary of false information; to decipher fact from fiction; genuine from fake.

In 2013, you must start a legion of truth where you caucus with others to clarify any unclear information; you must question the rhetoric and finally, you must refuse to be part of a faceless crowd. Have a crystal clear New Year!

The writer is the founder and CEO of Infotrak Research and Consulting