Effectiveness of communicating government policies: a case of Kenya Vision 2030

Abstract

The Kenya Vision 2030 is one of the country's most ambitious development blueprints that is aimed at propelling the nation into a middle-income economy with a high quality of life for its people. The success of the Kenya Vision 2030 will largely depend on the religious implementation of the document by all involved. The blueprint envisages that all Kenyans play their rightful role in the implementation of the 'Vision, but the question that begs is whether those entrusted with the implementation of this great blueprint really understand it, and whether they are up to the task. This study sought to find out whether the government is using effective communication to ensure that staffs in the ministries tasked with implementing the Vision understand the ideals of the master plan, and whether they have the capacity to propagate the message to their subjects. The study relied on the Stakeholder Theory, which states that all stakeholders must be involved and all their interest must be taken into accord before implementing any strategy. The internal public is a major stakeholder in any strategy and if they do not understand it well, then implementation will be difficult. The citizens can only begin to understand the Vision well, as well as understand their roles, if government officials understand and appreciate their roles in the first place. The study involved staff from all government ministries and found that there are major concerns regarding how the Vision has been communicated to them.