The planned vaccination of cows is an example of how not to communicate a government policy. President William Ruto, being a scientist, could have easily explained himself to the people.
Instead he chose to lambast everyone opposed to the exercise. The President never needed to speak to the matter as a passing statement but could have issued an elaborate statement that acknowledges and assuages people’s fears.
Listening to Agriculture CS Andrew Karanja, a few days ago, one gets a feeling that what the government is pursuing and what people are concerned about are not the same thing, yet you cannot blame the people for this.
Kenyans’ concern emanates from a controversial plan that aims to reduce cow emissions. Research shows that cows contribute a great deal to climate change by producing methane, a gas said to be 28 times more potent in global warming.
However, according to CS Karanja, the planned vaccination has nothing to do with this controversial plan. Instead, he said the vaccination is meant to address common diseases like foot and mouth disease. He also reiterated that the vaccines are not new and have been manufactured in Kenya over the past 12 years. This is the clarity Kenyans are always seeking. They need not be called stupid and mad.
The fears Kenyans are expressing are real. No serious farmer doesn’t have a vaccination and treatment schedule for his or her cows even without the government’s input. When there is an outbreak of a particular disease, it would be in the news, and any farmer would have a veterinarian on speed dial. So the government must really come clear on what exactly it is intending to do.
At the moment, the only intervention approved in reducing the amount of methane produced by cows is through a food additive known as Bovaer. These additives are meant to interrupt the feed fermentation process in a cow’s rumen, thus reducing the amount of methane gas produced by a significant percentage.
Another product funded by renowned tycoon Bill Gates, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Alibaba founder Jack Ma known as Rumin8 is at the testing stage, and Kenyans are worried whether their cows will be the testing ground.
What the government forgets when communicating is that this information is available online, and Kenyans sometimes land on it even before the mainstream media does. Such information would be confusing, particularly if the government coincidentally decides to run a mass vaccination programme. What would make anyone believe that the government is communicating genuinely when all they get is insults?
One principle of communication is that ‘communication is what is heard and not what is said.’ The people will not just hear the message but will also judge credibility of the person communicating, the tone and other attendant factors. If the tone is off, the communication will also be off.
-nyagwokamike@gmail.com
