Influence of COVID-19 Crisis Communication on Public Perception of the Kenyan Government Communication Strategy: A Case of Kibra Sub-County Nairobi, Kenya

Abstract

COVID-19 communication has drawn a sharp focus across the globe and elicited varied public perceptions. This study sought to assess the influence of covid-19 crisis communication on public perception of the Kenyan government's communication strategy from March 2020 to December 2020. Objectives were: to assess how the government's daily speeches influenced the public interpretation of the COVID-19 crisis, find out how the government's mobile text messages on COVID-19 influenced the public's trust in COVID-19 messages, and establish how the artistic expressions influenced the public response to the crisis. The rationale was based on assessing the public perception of G.o. K's communication strategy. The findings would help communication experts improve the existing crisis communication strategies. It was limited to Lindi ward. The study used SCT and SCCT theories to understand perception. It adopted a survey design to collect quantitative data involving123 household heads sampled purposively in Lindi, Kibra. The data was analyzed and presented in tables. The participants' mean age was 30.54. Averagely, 1% of the respondents disagreed with questions regarding COVID-19 daily speeches, 8.5% indicated neutrality, and 90.5% agreed with the statements. 33.4% disagreed with statements regarding text messages, 23.7% indicated neutrality, and 42.7% agreed with the statements. 7.1% disagreed with statements regarding artistic expressions, 21.9% indicated neutrality, and 70.5% agreed. The study concluded that the public's perceptions of government communication strategy regarding the COVID-19 crisis were favorable despite a significant percentage of the respondents disagreeing with statements on text messages/SMSs. The study recommends investigating the impact of the centralization of Kenyan government communication departments on crisis communication, the relationship between literacy and information sharing, and how people derive a common understanding of an artistic expression.