The Director of Public Communication Monica Omoro, has emphasized the need for continuous citizen engagement as a means to achieve the Bottom-Up Economic Transformation Agenda (BETA).
Speaking at the just concluded Public Relations Society of Kenya 2024 summit in Homa Bay, Omoro stressed that coordinated communication is crucial for meeting citizen expectations and fostering inclusivity.
She noted that the function of communication in all government Ministries is specifically domiciled in the Ministry of Information, Communications and The Digital Economy (MICDE), specifically the Directorate of Public Communication.
The director said that poor and unreliable messaging can lead to negative government image and public unrest.
Omoro cited the 2024 Finance Bill that led to public protests that were witnessed earlier this year, and highlighted the need to put more focus on inclusive public engagement.
“The Ministry coordinates communication to foster public trust and inclusivity in the government,” noted the director.
She further cited insufficient capacity in the directorate and underscored the need to recruit more Public Communication Officers (PCOs) and Public Communication Assistants (PCAs) to ensure effective communication and public trust.
“The Public Service Commission has approved a new staff establishment to support career growth for PCOs and efforts to recruit more officers are ongoing. In the improved scheme of service, an officer can rise to a higher rank. The scheme has been formulated to enhance career growth for our officers,” she informed.
Omoro noted that PCOs are in the frontline of ensuring sensitization and citizens’ engagement to ensure government messaging is well understood and achieves the impact it is meant to.
The director averred that the Directorate of Public Communication is mandated to promote government policies and strategies, build a positive government image and ensure proactive communication to foster development.
By Sitna Omar