Duale's Ebola messaging replete with sober lessons

One of the most dreaded monsters for any administration anywhere in the world is crisis communication. When poorly handled, authorities lose the narrative and other actors get the leeway to pursue their own agenda to the detriment of public good.

As a seasoned communications practitioner trained by reputable agencies like the International Atomic Energy Agency, I know all too well that governments often lose public trust when their official version of events conflicts with what citizens see, hear or read.

There are many interesting examples. On September 21, 2013 when terrorists attacked the Westgate Mall in Nairobi and laid a four-day siege that killed more than 60 people, President Uhuru Kenyatta’s government turned public messaging into a masterclass in muddle and confusion.

Then Interior Cabinet Secretary Joseph Lenku, out of severe naivety, claimed the plumes of smoke seen rising from the mall were the result of terrorists burning mattresses. The truth, however, was that cars parked inside the building had caught fire, causing a frenzy.

Another memorable case was in 2016 when I was working in the newsroom. We ran a 'splash' detailing how Al Shabaab militants had attacked a KDF-run African Union Mission in Somalia army base in El Adde, Gedo region. Impeccable sources, including international media, placed the death toll at more than 100. The story we ran placed the death toll at 65. The next day, my editor came under fire from the powers that be.

Throughout that period, the government never released the official death toll. The result of the Somalia massacre was a heavy loss of trust. There were more questions than answers about what our uniformed men and women were doing in another country.

When communication is reactive, inconsistent or disconnected from citizens, the outcome is disastrous. There have been countless communication goofs in the last decade, and the Office of the Government Spokesperson has, in the past, failed to remedy the situation. The office has been better at cheerleading than constructive public messaging.

Experts will agree that the haphazard messaging we saw on Huduma Namba, the Housing Levy, the Competency-Based Curriculum, the Shakahola massacre and the controversial Finance Bill 2024 are living examples of how not to attract and retain public confidence.

But this week, the Ministry of Health did some good work. Despite Cabinet Secretary Aden Duale’s prior perceived reluctance to come clean on the alleged establishment of an Ebola facility in Laikipia that led to contempt of court proceedings against him, Afya House outdid itself in relaying information to the public regarding Kenya’s first Ebola patient.

From the press briefing and question-and-answer session to contact tracing, mapping the routes and modes of transport used by the patient all the way from the Democratic Republic of Congo to Kenya via Uganda, placing more than 60 people under quarantine, handling a suspected case in Wajir, Mr Duale’s meeting with envoys to allay fears, and his visit to the Nairobi Hospital Ebola preparedness facility, the ministry’s communication effort reassured the public. You could say the CS has redeemed himself from previous concerns that the government was ‘hiding’ something.

Even with the US and Canada issuing travel advisories, there’s calm among Kenyans that, at least, Afya House is competently handling Ebola and is prepared to deal with any future cases. This time, there is no bravado or know-it-all attitude from the authorities, as has historically been the case.

In Crisis Communications 101, good crisis messaging revolves around speed, accuracy, transparency, consistency, empathy and accountability. Messages should acknowledge people’s fears, answer their immediate concerns and provide guidance on what to do. The Ebola communication met these principles.

We should now build on this by ensuring credibility takes precedence over political expediency and image management. An earlier plan to review government communication in its totality should be pursued.

That’s why it was refreshing to see communications officers from ministries and state agencies gather at the Kenya School of Government last month to take stock. We must treat communication better because lives depend on it. This time, CS Duale and his team did well.

-The writer is a communications practitioner.