Journalists in Turkana county and senior county government officials are undergoing a two- days training on the role of communication in supporting county government in resilience programming.
The training aims at establishing and understanding the existing county capacities, gaps and opportunities in strengthening strategic communications functions for resilience.
The training which is organized by USAID- Resilience Learning Activity started on Wednesday in Lodwar also seeks to establish a roadmap to strengthen county government strategic communication and knowledge management functions.
It also seeks to explore the process of institutionalizing knowledge management and strategic communications as a core function in resilience programming at the county level through the development and implementation of communication strategies.
Speaking during the opening ceremony, deputy county secretary Robert Loyelei said communication plays a major role in the success of government projects.
“The outcomes of what we do as a county government depends largely on communication. Wrong communication leads to wrong decision making,” said Loyelei.
He added that communication was important for the sustainability of projects.
He said the law requires the involvement of the public in public participation, hence the need for the media to provide an opportunity for residents to give their views and feedback to the government.
Loyelei at the same time urged the journalists not to be afraid of critiquing the government as long as their information was based on facts, adding that it was useful in informing the government’s planning phase of various projects.
USAID Resilience Learning Activity Lead Dr Hudson Aluvanze decried the manner in which public participation is conducted saying it was in many instances conducted for compliance purpose and not to get the views of the public in order to include them in decision making.
‘The community should be made to understand that public participation is not merely for compliance purposes but an opportunity for them to identify their development priorities,’ said Aluvanze.
Former Media Council of Kenya chairman and Strategic Communication Expert Prof Levy Obonyo underscored the role of the media in realization of the Sustainable Development goals.
Prof Obonyo said the government, media and the public must work together for the realization of these goals.
He cited government oppression, commercial interest, state control and self-censorship as some of the challenges facing the media in its quest to push the country’s development agenda.
Former Citizen Tv Journalist and Communication consultant Hussein Mohamed emphasized the role of data in enhancing reporting by using statistics.
Mohamed at the same time challenged the journalists to take advantage of the digital media revolution to grow their careers.
Journalists should look at the digital media revolution as an opportunity and not as a threat. It has created more platforms for journalists to share content and make a living at the same time,’ said Mohamed.
The participants were also trained on how to spot fake news and other forms of online misinformation.
By Peter Gitonga
