Hannah Gakuo is a Communication Specialist and Policy Visibility Advisor who helps governments communicate policies clearly, confidently, and effectively. She advises ministries, parastatals, and policy leaders on strategic messaging, crisis preparedness, and building public trustโtransforming complex reforms into stories that citizens can easily understand and support.
In times of crisis, public institutions are challenged not only by the events that unfold but also by their response, engagement, and leadership. More often than not, the most significant damage results not from the crisis itself, but from a lack of timely, credible, and consistent communication.
Recent events in Kenya, including civil unrest, economic challenges, and a rise in misinformation, have highlighted a critical issue: many public institutions may not be sufficiently prepared to communicate effectively during high-pressure situations. This lack of readiness erodes public trust, confuses, and hampers service delivery, especially when citizens need clear information the most.
As a Strategic Communications Specialist, with over a decade of experience supporting government agencies, Iโve seen firsthand what sets apart institutions that lead with credibility from those that lose control of the narrative.
Here are six strategic shifts that can help the public sector future-proof its crisis communication and serve citizens with transparency, empathy, and authority.
1. ๐๐ผ๐ปโ๐ ๐ช๐ฎ๐ถ๐ ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐น๐ถ๐ป๐ฒ๐, ๐๐ผ๐บ๐บ๐๐ป๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ฒ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐ถ๐
๐๐ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐๐ถ๐บ๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐โ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฎ๐๐ธ๐ถ๐ป๐ด, โ๐ช๐ต๐ฎ๐ ๐๐ต๐ผ๐๐น๐ฑ ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ฎ๐?โ ๐ถ๐ ๐บ๐ฎ๐ ๐ฎ๐น๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ ๐ฏ๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐ผ ๐น๐ฎ๐๐ฒ.
Crisis communication must be proactive, not reactive. It should be embedded in leadership strategy, operational planning, and institutional culture.
๐๐ธ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ขโ๐ด 2023 ๐ง๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฅ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ค๐ข๐ด๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด: ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ-๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ญ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ต๐ด, ๐ค๐ณ๐ฐ๐ด๐ด-๐ข๐จ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ค๐บ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ณ๐ถ๐ด๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ญ๐ช๐ท๐ฆ๐ด ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ถ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ช๐ฏ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ช๐ค ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ง๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ.
๐ฆ๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ด๐ถ๐ฐ ๐๐ผ๐บ๐บ๐๐ป๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ ๐๐๐-๐๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐:
โข Tiered crisis roles and escalation protocols
โข Trained spokespersons and standby communication teams
โข Pre-approved messaging templates
โข Routine simulations and drills
โข Staff empowered to act within the โgolden minute/golden secondโ of Crisis Communication
Communication is not a one-time event; it should be likened to a muscle that requires training before being tested.
2. ๐๐ป๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ป๐ฎ๐น ๐ฎ๐น๐ถ๐ด๐ป๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ณ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐ป๐ฎ๐น ๐ฎ๐ป๐ป๐ผ๐๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ๐บ๐ฒ๐ป๐๐
When internal teams are not properly informed, external messaging will fail. In a crisis, clear communication must originate from within.
From senior officials to front-line officers, every staff member should know:
โข What has happened?
โข What is the institution currently doing?
โข Who is authorized to speak?
โข What is their role in communication?
โข How will updates be communicated?
๐๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ข๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฆ’๐ด ๐๐๐๐๐-19 ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด๐ฆ ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ธ๐ช๐ต๐ฉ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฅ๐ช๐ฏ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฏ๐ข๐ญ ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ช๐ฆ๐ง๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ด, ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ด๐ถ๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ช๐ง๐ช๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ง๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ช๐ค ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด๐ข๐จ๐ฆ ๐ข๐ค๐ณ๐ฐ๐ด๐ด ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ ๐ฎ๐ช๐ฏ๐ช๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ช๐ฆ๐ด.
You canโt communicate with the public if your internal teams are in the โdarkโ.
3. ๐๐ผ๐๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฝ๐๐ฏ๐น๐ถ๐ฐ ๐๐ฟ๐๐๐ ๐๐ต๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ด๐ต ๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ป๐๐ฝ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฐ๐, ๐ฐ๐ผ๐ป๐๐ถ๐๐๐ฒ๐ป๐ฐ๐, ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฒ๐บ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐๐ต๐.
During crises, citizens desire ๐ต๐ผ๐ป๐ฒ๐๐, ๐๐ถ๐บ๐ฒ๐น๐, ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฒ๐บ๐ฝ๐ฎ๐๐ต๐ฒ๐๐ถ๐ฐ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐บ๐๐ป๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป.
In times of crisis, credible institutions prioritize communication by conveying information in three key ways:
โข Transparently: sharing what is known and what is not
โข Consistently: maintaining uniform messaging across all platforms and levels
โข Empathetically: recognizing citizensโ fears, concerns, and needs.
๐๐ง๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ข๐ช๐ฌ๐ฐ๐ถ๐ณ๐ข ๐ฆ๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฒ๐ถ๐ข๐ฌ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐๐ฆ๐ธ ๐ก๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ช๐ฏ 2016, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฏ-๐๐ณ๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ ๐๐ช๐ฏ๐ช๐ด๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ ๐๐ฐ๐ฉ๐ฏ ๐๐ฆ๐บ’๐ด ๐ค๐ข๐ญ๐ฎ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ข๐ด๐ด๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด ๐ฃ๐ณ๐ช๐ฆ๐ง๐ช๐ฏ๐จ๐ด ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ญ๐บ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ช๐ค ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต ๐ข๐ญ๐ด๐ฐ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ญ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ฃ๐ช๐ญ๐ช๐ป๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ข๐ญ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ข๐ญ๐ฆ.
In times of crisis, people look to their leaders not only for direction but also for reassurance and hope.
4. ๐๐ผ๐ปโ๐ ๐ด๐ผ ๐๐ถ๐น๐ฒ๐ป๐ ๐ฎ๐ณ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ ๐ฎ ๐ฐ๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐ถ๐, ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐บ๐๐ป๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐๐ต๐ฟ๐ผ๐๐ด๐ต ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฟ๐
Silence in the aftermath of a crisis can be as damaging as the crisis itself. Post-crisis communication is a critical phase of rebuilding trust, restoring accountability, and showing citizens that recovery is underway.
๐๐ฐ๐ญ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐๐บ๐ฑ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐๐ข๐ช๐บ๐ข๐ฏ, ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐ฉ๐ช๐ญ๐ช๐ฑ๐ฑ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฏ๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ญ๐ข๐ถ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ข ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ฃ๐ญ๐ช๐ค ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ค๐ฐ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐บ ๐ต๐ณ๐ข๐ค๐ฌ๐ฆ๐ณ, ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ค๐ช๐ต๐ช๐ป๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ด ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ญ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ธ ๐ข๐ช๐ฅ ๐ง๐ญ๐ฐ๐ธ๐ด, ๐ท๐ฐ๐ช๐ค๐ฆ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ค๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฏ๐ด, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ช๐ต๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐ถ๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐จ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด.
๐ฃ๐ผ๐๐-๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ ๐ฃ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ผ๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ฒ๐:
โข Share lessons learned with the public
โข Acknowledge the efforts of internal teams and partners
โข Provide regular updates on recovery actions and progress
โข Establish ongoing two-way communication with citizens
The way you communicate after a crisis will influence how history views your leadership.
5. ๐๐๐ถ๐น๐ฑ ๐ฎ ๐ฐ๐ผ๐บ๐บ๐๐ป๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ฐ๐๐น๐๐๐ฟ๐ฒ, ๐ป๐ผ๐ ๐ท๐๐๐ ๐ฎ ๐ฐ๐ฟ๐ถ๐๐ถ๐ ๐ฝ๐น๐ฎ๐ป
Institutions that falter in crises often lack a communication mindset. Crisis readiness is the byproduct of a strong communication culture, where messaging is not an afterthought, but a leadership function woven into strategy, policymaking, and service delivery.
๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ๐ขโ๐ด ๐๐ช๐ฏ๐ช๐ด๐ต๐ณ๐บ ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐ต๐ฉ ๐ช๐ด ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ต๐ข๐ฃ๐ญ๐ฆ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ฆ๐ง๐ง๐ฆ๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ท๐ฆ๐ญ๐บ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ต๐ฆ๐จ๐ณ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ค๐ฐ๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ช๐ค๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ข๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐จ ๐ช๐ต๐ด ๐ญ๐ฆ๐ข๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ด๐ฉ๐ช๐ฑ, ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ง๐ณ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ต๐ญ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฆ๐ข๐ฎ๐ด ๐ฅ๐ถ๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐๐๐๐-19 ๐ฑ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ช๐ค, ๐จ๐ข๐ณ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ค๐ฐ๐จ๐ฏ๐ช๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ง๐ฐ๐ณ ๐ช๐ต๐ด ๐ต๐ณ๐ข๐ฏ๐ด๐ฑ๐ข๐ณ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ค๐บ ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ด๐ฑ๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ด๐ช๐ท๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ฆ๐ด๐ด.
๐๐๐ถ๐น๐ฑ ๐๐ต๐ฒ ๐ฐ๐๐น๐๐๐ฟ๐ฒ ๐ฏ๐:
โข Involving communication advisors in strategic planning
โข Recognizing communication excellence in public service
โข Running simulations across departments and levels
โข Encouraging inter-agency message alignment
Communication resilience should be built every day, not just when a crisis hits.
6. ๐๐บ๐ฏ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ด๐ถ๐๐ฎ๐น ๐๐ผ๐ผ๐น๐ ๐๐ผ ๐ฒ๐ป๐ต๐ฎ๐ป๐ฐ๐ฒ ๐๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ฒ๐ฑ, ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฐ๐ต & ๐๐ฟ๐๐๐
In the digital age, the speed of your communication determines the strength and standing of your leadership.
Mobile technology, virtual platforms, and AI-enabled tools are no longer optional; they are essential infrastructure for credibility and service continuity.
๐๐ถ๐ณ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐๐๐๐๐-19 ๐ฑ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ช๐ค, ๐๐ฐ๐ถ๐ต๐ฉ ๐๐ง๐ณ๐ช๐ค๐ขโ๐ด ๐๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ๐ข๐ญ ๐๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ข๐ณ๐ต๐ฎ๐ฆ๐ฏ๐ต ๐ฐ๐ง ๐๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐ต๐ฉ ๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ฐ๐บ๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฏ๐ฐ๐ท๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ท๐ฆ ๐๐ฉ๐ข๐ต๐ด๐๐ฑ๐ฑ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ข๐ต๐ฃ๐ฐ๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ท๐ช๐ฅ๐ฆ ๐ท๐ฆ๐ณ๐ช๐ง๐ช๐ฆ๐ฅ ๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐ต๐ฉ ๐ถ๐ฑ๐ฅ๐ข๐ต๐ฆ๐ด, ๐๐๐๐ด, ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฅ ๐ค๐ข๐ด๐ฆ ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ต๐ช๐ด๐ต๐ช๐ค๐ด ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ ๐ต๐ช๐ฎ๐ฆ.
The platform, built in collaboration with the ๐ช๐๐ข ๐ฎ๐ป๐ฑ ๐ฃ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐ฒ๐ธ๐ฒ๐น๐.๐ผ๐ฟ๐ด, reached millions of citizens in multiple languages, significantly reducing the spread of misinformation.
๐๐ ๐ฎ๐บ๐ฝ๐น๐ฒ๐ ๐ผ๐ณ ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ด๐ถ๐๐ฎ๐น ๐๐๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ๐ด๐ถ๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ผ ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ผ๐ฝ๐:
โข SMS alerts and mobile apps for citizen notifications
โข Virtual coordination rooms for leadership briefings
โข Social listening tools to manage public sentiment
โข Centralized digital hubs for accurate and timely updates
โข AI-powered chatbots for real-time citizen engagement
Digital readiness is vital, not merely a matter of convenience. It is crucial for ensuring service continuity. Crisis communication is not about optics. Itโs about institutional integrity and leadership. Governments that communicate transparently, quickly, and with empathy will always foster greater public confidence, even during uncertain times. ๐๐ผ๐บ๐บ๐๐ป๐ถ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ ๐น๐ถ๐ธ๐ฒ ๐๐ผ๐๐ฟ ๐ฐ๐ฟ๐ฒ๐ฑ๐ถ๐ฏ๐ถ๐น๐ถ๐๐ ๐ฑ๐ฒ๐ฝ๐ฒ๐ป๐ฑ๐ ๐ผ๐ป ๐๐, ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐ฐ๐ฎ๐๐๐ฒ ๐๐ ๐ฑ๐ผ๐ฒ๐.
