Presidential Private Assistant on Media Management Mr Kirunda Farouk has expressed disappoinent in government officials, mainly Ministers creating confusion in the way information about the fight against Coronavirus is being disseminated by attempting to give confusing and uncoordinated information which he says is likely to create confusion and waterdown the promising progress so far attained.
According to Kirunda, ministers should leave the president to continue presenting the official position of government on the pandemic since there is no sign that he has failed to satisfy that role.
He adds that for the first time in the contemporary times, the country has united behind the President which explains why the whole Country eagerly tunes in each time Museveni appears on the TV screens to update the nation on the progress.
He expressed confidence in the momentum so far generated which he says is promising because since the pandemic set its feet on Ugandan soil, the situation has remained largely under control which he attributes to the effective coordination of information from experts and first line stakeholders with the president at the apex. President Museveni has addressing regular press conferences and optimising social media accounts to ensure that Ugandans become familiar with the face of the disease.
To further elaborate his point, Kirunda cautioned Ministers to appreciate the fact that despite the availability of many spokespersons, observing protocol has been preferred as a way of guarding against the flow of uncoordinated information which would expose the country to risk.
“Nobody should think that government is short of spokespersons; we are all spokespersons capable of issuing any statement but we are respecting protocol and orderliness to avoid fatal mistakes,” He said
Kirunda cautioned errant officials that there will soon be a pay back time where all of them will have to be reprimanded for their misdeeds in what he refered to as “addressing systematic failures” when the disease finally gets subdued.
“Coronavirus will soon be under control then we have to address systemic failures caused by unserious officials trying to use the fact of the pandemic to build names or to play to the gallery. Such officials are no different from politicians capitalizing on the pandemic to canvass votes for the next election. We may be forced to name and shame the whole lot to save the majority, ” said the visibly disappointed Musevenist.
The President’s Aide applauded the Country’s response to the outbreak as being nearly perfect, scoring some unexpected results like keeping numbers of victims very low, thanks to President Museveni’s depth of grasp of public communication and his ability to employ inviting language and serious administrative action while leading the national response.
“Everybody’s talk and act at this time must be “scientific”. God forbid that any high ranking official acts or speaks in a way that raises doubts about the veracity of their assertions and their general understanding of the enemy we are combating against,” he noted before adding that it would be disastrous because from the start it was clear that “war” can be won or lost depending on how information flow is managed.”
Having accurate data will save lives depending on the ability to have confidence and information about what is actually transpiring according to Mr. Kirunda.
Kirunda highlighted the importance in data collection by explaining that as the Americans urge every nation to collect the data and do their best to share information relevant on the fight against the disease, Uganda is already ahead in that regard.
He called for a coherent rallying of all citizens in the fight.
“All energy and resources our country can muster to confront the problem are welcome but in an orderly and organised fashion devoid of populism, self-seeking stunts and uncoordinated language that demoralizes, alienates or confuses the masses,” he said.
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