Mutua must know that leaflets are not Government’s way of communication

By Wanyonyi Wambilyanga

Between an old blanket at night and a rickety vehicle on safari, which one would you choose? The room for blunders, in both, are too obvious. That is what I thought when I saw a leaflet from the Government Spokesman office.

That he is a communications scholar is obvious but that he made a terrible blunder is equally obvious. He may not want to push the Government’s case on the contentious Kenya Communications (Amendment) Act, 2008 in the same media that are opposed to it but the use of leaflets is the worst form of communication government can use.

Leaflets (save for entertainment or advertising) are crisis communications tools, where other modes of communication cannot be used. Their mode of transmission is suspect and their level of success depends on how the public interacts among itself with regards to the message.

Going by the recipients’ responses on TV, the recent leaflets circulation was a major faux pas. A Government worth its salt should not, unless under jeopardy, engage in leaflet circulation to explain its position.

The general mood is that the Government did not act appropriately in handling the Media Bill. The population thinks the President erred in appending his signature to the contentious Bill. This being the situation, the Government Spokesman should have known better and employed better communication strategies that do not reduce him to a propaganda mill or a rumour monger. Official communication from the Government should not be perceived to be clandestine. Whereas the Government Spokesman could have chosen the old blanket on a cold night and pushed his agenda through the same media he is fighting, the uncertainty of boarding a rickety vehicle on this safari definitely did not pay off.

Previous use of leaflets

Checks and balances are natural ways of ensuring responsibility and any institution worth its title would happily participate in such processes — for peaceful coexistence.

Parliament has repeatedly smacked Kenyans on the face following its refusal to be accountable. And the Government has resorted to unorthodox communication channels. So, who has the moral authority to advise Kenyans on legislation and policy? Propaganda will only serve its purpose if directed through the known and trusted channels.

For the message to pass a credibility test, it should be sustained and packaged in respected forms. By lining youths in streets and dishing out leaflets, Mutua embarrassed himself and his actions were no better than a downtown hustler’s.

The good doctor of communications should have known better that the main purpose of propaganda is to change public’s point of view and not to necessarily convey the truth. Skewed Government positions can never and will never be adopted when transmitted through leaflets.

The previous use of leaflets have sent chills down many a spine. Gang members have used them to intimidate wananchi, or rival political gangs have used them to reaffirm an ‘outsider’ place in their society. Why would anyone want to use this avenue to state ‘the Truth the Media wont tell you’. The integrity of a message is always distorted, if not lost, in the way we package it. So, Mutua, next time do it in an acceptable way.

—The writer is a Sub Editor with The Standard, Weekend Editions