There’s no doubt that the Government of Uganda has done a commendable job to combat the spread of the COVID-19. However, one important aspect that is falling through the cracks and actually needs remedy is ensuring that the public is fed on accurate information amidst the COVID fight. This is the time that Communication or Public Relations Officers especially in Government institutions at the frontline of fighting COVID, should be doing their job to assist their bosses in communicating accurate information to the public. For instance, we have seen several contradictory utterances or statements made by key government officials, which may leave space to conclude that there are glaring communication gaps in the COVID fight.
One such a case was when the Minister of ICT, Judith Nabakooba, blatantly appeared on the media and assured Ugandans that there was no cause to worry about the quality of food items distributed by government to the vulnerable communities. On the contrary, fellow Minister in charge of Relief and Disaster Preparedness, Musa Ecweru while briefing the public recently, dispelled the quality of food supplied by one of the contracted firms. These contradictory statements are inexcusable of government Ministers whom we assume to be on top of their game in providing the public with accurate information.
The other incident that also made rounds on social media was the under-declaration of World Vision’s donation to Ministry of Health through the Permanent Secretary, Dr. Diana Atwine. Although World Vision was quick to clear the air, no amount of damage control from the Ministry would save the situation. If such negligible communication gaps are not cured, the public may end up losing trust in the custodians of their donations.
That said, I think there is still opportunity to find a lasting solution to the uncoordinated communication amongst those whom we feed off information in the COVID 19 fight. It’s therefore high time government thought about the need to come up with a Communication Strategy on COVID 19 which would help guard against inaccurate information and also spell out clear communication channels. With a Communication strategy in place, we shall improve on the communication loop amongst key actors spearheading the COVID 19 fight and restore public confidence in making more donations.
The writer is a Commonwealth Correspondent.
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