Kenya Correspondents Association (KCA) is in a mission to create dialogue spaces within the community to address crisis communication.
This follows the aftermath of the 2022 general elections which even though has been calmer than in previous years is still not conducive for development.
The association is in Kisumu for a two day workshop, meeting stakeholders with the aim of sensitizing them on the benefits of community dialogue and understanding conflict management.
KCA Chairman Oloo Janak on Thursday led the day one of the stakeholder engagement to find out the reasons behind political and non-political crisis and how to deal with them.
The dialogue has already started and more issues are coming up within the society, we now need to see into how we can manage the crisis that we already have
Oloo Janak
The complexities
According to Mr. Janak, previous engagement during the launch of the project had identified the complexities of communication in the community, disinformation, misinformation by individuals on social media, among others.
With this he noted that a number of interventions needed to be done, including training the stakeholders and shareholders on how to engage the community.
“The dialogue has already started and more issues are coming up within the society, we now need to see into how we can manage the crisis that we already have,” he said.
“We first need to know how to engage them so that we can manage the crisis,” furthered Janak.
We believe if we create awareness among these groups, they can take it to the wider groups where they belong
Oloo Janak
Stakeholders
Key among the stakeholders engaged by the association include representatives of the National and County Governments, opinion leaders, Civil Society Organizations, religious leaders, Bunge La Wananchi, among others.
“We believe if we create awareness among these groups, they can take it to the wider groups where they belong,” he said.
Silas Olala, who is the Luo Council of Elders Secretary General and a member of the chapter said that there is need to empower the community and resuscitate the economy.
“We do not need relief food, we need to be empowered to be able to make our own food, people need to know how to make use of what we have,” he said.
Crisis Communication Chapter (CCC) , Kisumu was launched in December, 2022 and is supported by both KCA and DW Akademie.
