MUGA: USAID and failure of communications in Kenya

WITHIN the opinions and commentary sections of the local mainstream media, you will often find contributors to those pages self-identify as “communications experts” or “media strategists” or any of the many other titles used to identify those who work in what I shall broadly term as “media relations.”

So much so that you might be justified in wondering if Kenya has a huge surplus of people, with a degree of expertise in media relations. In my opinion, this is not quite the case.

We actually need more such experts.

By now there will barely be any Kenyan who has a WhatsApp account, who has not received from one friend or another, a seemingly authentic video clip or press release, which revealed something truly surprising or even scandalous, and gasped in amazement.

Only to later find out that it was the work of some creative propagandist and had no bearing on reality. In one case, it will be that the horrifying event in the video took place in West Africa, quite a few years back; or maybe was entirely cooked up using some advanced computer animation programmes.

In another, the official-looking statement will later be found to be a product of Photoshop.

Given these circumstances, the role of the mainstream media as “gatekeepers” to all incoming news is more vital than ever.

By and large, the Kenyan mainstream media is professional and can be relied on to only publish or broadcast verified content.

And given this critical role of the mainstream media, just about any organisation of any reasonable size, needs some kind of expert to help them use such media organisations for their “messaging.”

A good example of the cost of neglecting to have such media experts guide your liaisons with the media gatekeepers, is shown in the fate of the now dismantled USAID Office for Eastern Africa.

Over the years I have had many friends, both Americans and Kenyans, who worked at the US Embassy in Nairobi, and its affiliates like USAID.

As such, I thought I had a pretty good idea of the kind of “development projects” that USAID carried out.

But only when President Donald Trump abruptly shot down USAID, did I realise the full extent of the sheer range of programmes the organisation runs in Kenya.

And yet, I would hazard a guess that I know more about USAID and its works, than most Kenyans.

Bear in mind that USAID had a full complement of communications officers, both Americans and Kenyans.

Obviously, they were not doing a very good job at informing the Kenyan public of the good work being done by the various NGOs, which received financial support from USAID. But that is not all.

It is not only USAID, which – from its lofty eminence as the most generous provider of development assistance – failed to inform Kenyans of its many good works.

Consider the example of our MPs, which many Kenyans (and especially those active on social media) seem to consider to be a bunch of parasites and thieves whose only objective is to “eat” whatever funds they can lay their hands on.

If you know any politicians personally, and if they have taken you around their constituency to see the various projects that they have implemented, you will know that this is not really true.

Most of those who go into elective politics are actually more interested in power than in wealth. Indeed they are willing to risk losing such wealth as they do have, in their quest for power.

Now power is one of those things, which – like the force of gravity – we can only study from its impacts. And in my experience, the average MP loves to point out to the impacts they can take credit for: the various improvements in the lives of their constituents.

And yet, unless you know some such MP personally, well enough to have been taken round to see these things, you would not know about them.

Suggesting that our political class has yet to realise the value of effective communications and media relations, whether for themselves or for the institutions they control.

Wycliffe Muga is a columnist