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I do not know whether to blame the office called “Office of the government spokesperson” or blame Muthui Kariuki as an individual.
Before Muthui we had Alfred Mutua in the same office and boy din’t he lick Kibaki’s boots – even when they were soiled. Today though he is the best Governor Kenya has. Maybe it’s the office, not the individual.
I am a communication professional and I handle communication for different private and public entities, some of them think-tank organizations that advice the governments of the greater East African region on matters security, natural resources management and development research. I know what I am talking about.
One of the basic principles of communications is objectivity – turning a blind eye to your personal feelings and affiliations and relying on facts as you put your message across – something that Muthui is finding hard to do.
Accusing the former Prime Minister of refusing to return government vehicles is rather something that is not factual. Without going into debate on whether the former PM deserves to still be in possession of the said vehicles which will take us the whole day, I will just put this as simple as I can.
How can the former PM refuse to return the vehicles?
If indeed a civilian can refuse to surrender public property to the government then that government should resign. With all the machinery at the government’s disposal I find it rather far fetched that a civilian like Raila can refuse to surrender vehicles to the government.
If the office of the “government’s spokesperson” is going to be used to settle personal wars with the tax payers’ money then that office should be scraped because it adds no value to the citizens of this country.
Kisii heckling
I do believe that there is a civilized way of putting your points across – not heckling. Having said that, we know the nature of Kenyans, when it comes to politics civilization is often thrown out of the window. The hecklers in Kisii must have not necessarily been paid or encouraged to do so. Without going into debate on whether it was the right forum, we have freedom of expression in this country and “heckling” is one form of expression.
Going back to Muthui Kariuki the person
Muthui Kariuki should respect our good profession of communication and live by it’s principles – and the same goes to anyone else who will occupy that office after him.
As professionals in the communications field, we must often not let personal opinions or our political, ethnic or religious affiliations determine how we “angle” our messages. The office of the spokesperson is a public office not a JUBILEE office and should not be used to serve the JUBILEE agenda, especially when the said agenda is not in the interest of the ordinary Kenyan citizen.
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