Finally,
the new government is to put in place a communication that would outline ways and
means that the government and the president, himself, would talk to the masses,
albeit periodically.
This
is good for good governance and citizen participation in our democracy. It will settle the acrimony cause by the lack
of communication from the government to the population on matters that the
people need to know.
From
now on, the press conference to be undertaken by the president will give the
media an opportunity to ask questions that are topical and gauge government
position on pressing issues. The government, on the other hand, can inform the
public via the media of all the policies, programmes and activities that they
so badly are eager to hear.
The
public is so impatient for they do not know what the fine details of what their
government is up to. The new
communication strategy will clear that anxiety.
In
the last couple of weeks, a lot of events had happened in our peaceful
Gambia. Yet we did not hear a lot from
the government. We know it took the
Interior Minister days to release a statement on the Kanilai incident, for
example. Within that time, speculations have been rife and rumours have been
tainting the image of the government, and the country by extension.
We
are all witnesses to the urgency of a solution to the chronic power problems
facing the country; yet the government continues to stay mute over the
matter. We expect the government to hold
press conferences and give the public, through the journalists, the opportunity
to clarify certain fundamental issues.
That
was an election campaign promise and we are expecting them to stick to their
words as the public is anxious for answers.
Frequent
press releases emanating from the Office of the President are not sufficient.
They do very little in providing valuable information that the journalists are
seeking. We need more face-to-face question and answer sessions with our public
officials.
Communication
is so important in this age that we are living in. In some African governments,
the journalists are fed with information on a daily basis by their governments
– about projects, developments, about issues of concern, etc. This is really important with the new
government.
So
let us keep communicating, communicating and communicating!
“The
art of communication is the language of leadership.”
James
Humes
