Last week’s 300 words posted online by the duty Governor of Garissa say a lot about the problem in communication our leaders have, especially those from northern Kenya.
Deputy governor Abdi Dagane voiced concerns and announced that the head of the county had distracted him from the affairs of the regime.
How he wrote the message, the timing, and the medium he used were all wrong.
Though the internet remains to be the fastest means of communication worldwide today, it is not the best medium to use while addressing your constituents and conveying a ‘bitter message of fallout’ with your boss.
Majority of the people living in northern Kenya are not online, the medium that reaches 70% of our people is radio. Choosing to write on Facebook over making a statement on one of the ten radio stations broadcasting locally in the region says a lot about the media literacy rate of our leaders.
Another mistake Mr. Abdi Dagane did was the timing of his message; writing online at the wee hours of the night was wrong. The best time to get the most massive audience online is between 6 am, and 8 am and 1 pm and 8 pm. None of the time guidelines above were considered; this means the people around him are clueless on the best time to make a statement and be heard.
The Deputy Governor’s post was shared 99 times and got 972 reactions. Just think about if this was amplified through traditional media; radio, television, and newspapers. He would have received the response he wanted.
The Governor and his Deputy were elected through a coalition of two tribes living in Garissa; thus if the Deputy Governor thought he and his tribesmen were being sidelined in a government they both fought for, he should have gone to his support base and announced all that he wrote on Facebook from the ground.
That way, the government of the day Led by Ali Korane would have felt the heat, and Mr. Dagane would get the attention he deserved. His facebook post amounted to nothing.
Even after receiving the unrelenting blows online, Governor Korane has not said a word.
And as I say all the time, communication is to governance as blood is to the human body. The earlier leaders from Nothern Kenya know the importance of communicating the better.
Yunis is a broadcast journalist based in Nairobi.
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