- Experts need to learn to communicate sector jargon in simple language; and adopt simple ways to present complex ideas.
- Incite some interest amongst the general public as they too make an effort to learn and understand the sector.
Image: HANDOUT
There’s a short story of a man who dashes into the bush to relieve himself and the people nearby peep to check what he is doing.
In another scenario, a man decides to relieve himself on the roadside and passersby outrightly look away.
Where information is scarce, rumours and conspiracy theories thrive.
It is a human conditioning to make sense of their reality regardless of the accuracy or lack of it therein.
The human brain will make all efforts to make sense of things; taking all the information available, and fitting it into manageable and acceptable portions to the brain.
Depending on the data available, and one’s worldview, they make sense of the situation and form their opinion and stand on the matter.
The energy sector has for a long time been marred with suspicion which bred misinformation on the public front creating a narrative about the sector.
The private sector specifically has been the biggest hit by this situation.
A lot of misinformation around IPP operations.
Their contracts and operations have for a long time been put under scrutiny after the fact; it is hard to make a case when you’ve already been passed as the black sheep.
But Proverbs 18:17 is encouraging, the first one to tell their side of the story seems right, until someone comes and asks questions.
Chimamanda Ngozi speaks on the danger of one side story.
One side story tends to create fallacies that sadly tend to resonate well with the populist public.
It then becomes an extra task to shatter this falsehood and fill it up with accurate information.
Over the recent years, we have seen deliberate efforts by institutions in the sector to re-strategize on their communication plans and operations.
The comms department is not just another department in the office but a crucial one sitting closely with all other departments.
The communication professional’s role now extends beyond just sharing information.
For the energy sector, it matters how the information is relayed to ensure clarity for the general public; it now matters that institutions are proactive in sharing information and not waiting to firefight.
This escalates to deliberate information-sharing campaigns geared towards demystifying the sector, addressing misinformation or even enlightening the public on key sector issues.
Whilst the sector is making efforts to ensure information is available to the public, the public is also without fault. Populists have taken advantage of the public’s nature of not digging for information.
A mere Google search is not always enough; it would make you fault unavailability of information.
A deeper search will however reveal otherwise.
Institutions will make the information available, but there is also a need for the public to look through the information and make informed conclusions.
Some would argue the information available is too complex for people outside the sector to fathom.
There is some truth to this.
There is enough work for all of us. Experts need to learn to communicate sector jargon in simple language; and adopt simple ways to present complex ideas.
Incite some interest amongst the general public as they too make an effort to learn and understand the sector.
It is good to see asserted efforts to avail information to the general public and stakeholders to ensure clarity and eliminate opaqueness, something the sector has been accused of before.
In my analogy above, the lesson therein is that people are suspicious when you hide information from them, but it works for you when you make it available; it shows you have nothing to hide.
Peninah Njakwe is the Head of Programmes & Communications at Electricy Sector Association of Kenya