By Sarah Acen Kibisi.
The Minister of State for ICT – National Guidance, Hon Kabbyanga Godfrey Baluku has announced the appointment of a task force on Government Communications and National Guidance.
The first of its kind in Uganda, the task force will be working with Ministry of Information Communication Technology to ensure that government communications are consistent, relevant and comprehensible.
The Uganda Government has suffered a significant loss of trust among a substantial population due to uncoordinated communications. Increasingly, the country has witnessed scenes of Government officials contradicting themselves or communicating different positions on policy and Government programmes. In some cases, officials criticize one another. As a result, public confidence in government communications is lost, creating a gap filled by alternative media sources and fake news. Additionally, the Government’s communications are usually delayed due to the absence of a mechanism to quickly reach a common position by the responsible Ministries, Departments & Agencies and Local Governments and communicate this position accurately and timely. Consequently, speculation and misinformation thrive on closing this gap, primarily through alternative communication channels, misleading the local and international people. To mitigate the above challenges, fostering effective communication is crucial, especially as Uganda implements critical national, regional and global plans, programmes, and policies to improve the quality of people’s lives. These include Vision 2040 and associated National Development Plan III, Agenda for Sustainable Development, East African Common Market Protocol and the NRM Manifesto (2021-26). However, their success depends on how much they are understood and appreciated by the majority of Ugandans. Therefore, the focus has been placed on revamping Government communications by addressing the identified communication and national guidance challenges. A taskforce has been formed to guide the Ministry of Information Communication Technology to ensure that Government communications are consistent, relevant and understandable. The taskforce will also provide input in the formulation of the National Guidance program. Led by the marketing and communications expert, Prof Arthur Sserwanga, the Taskforce includes distinguished communications professionals from public and private sectors, who have extensive experience in mindset change and communications.
The task force will set out how the government will deliver communications across the Uganda and internationally, with the overarching ambition to help the country recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.
Kabbyanga said the formation of the task force will disruptively change how government communicates.
“With experts from the biggest brands in Uganda, finally the government can tap into the wide portfolio of skills that make up the task force,” he said.
Among other objectives, the task force will:
Assist, in an advisory capacity, the ministry of ICT in creating an Integrated Marketing and Communications strategy for the government of Uganda. Special focus will be on behavioural change communications and formulation of Information Education and Communication materials■
