If Ruto Had a Communication Strategy: A Comedy of Errors

By Zablon Nyonje.

If Ruto had invested in a strategic communication strategy, he might have avoided the Gen Z-driven chaos. Instead, he treated communication like a casual hobby—akin to knitting a scarf while binge-watching TV. The result? A colossal mess that not even the best crisis manager could untangle.

Ask any professional communication practitioner who’s been told to “just tweet something” in response to a crisis, and you’ll get an earful of complaints. It’s like asking a brain surgeon to “just do a little snip-snip.” Communication today is often misunderstood, misused, or underused, much like those gym memberships that never see the light of day.

Ruto’s communication efforts were a bit like entrusting your house cat with running your Instagram account. Sure, bloggers, influencers, and journalists have their talents, but what grounding in communication science? Not so much. 

Ruto also leaned on fellow politicians and senior officials who treated the public to contemptuous statements while flaunting lavish lifestyles on social media, completely unaware of the damage they were doing. This was like setting your house on fire and wondering why it’s getting hot.

So, what happened? The public trust went down the drain, creating an existential threat to his presidency. It was a classic case of “Oops, I did it again,” but with way higher stakes.

What Is Strategic Communication?

Let’s dive into this magical thing called Strategic Communication. It’s not just about spamming the world with newsletters, adverts, and blog posts. No, strategic communication is an integrated plan focusing on the outcome first and outputs later. Think of it as baking a cake—you need a recipe, not just random ingredients thrown together.

There are many definitions, but my favorite is “a scientific approach to providing information to your audiences to support your organization's goals and objectives over a long period of time.” It’s like trying to get your cat to do tricks: it requires patience, understanding, and a lot of strategy.

Britain’s government loves “audience understanding” in its strategic communication, while America insists on synchronization with “all instruments of national power.” Translation: know your crowd and keep everyone on the same page.

Strategic communicators use data and research to understand their audiences before they publish or tweet anything. This data also helps analyze the situation and informs the messages and methods used. And, crucially, data is used to evaluate the impact of your messaging, adjusting as needed. It’s a never-ending task, much like laundry, but it’s crucial and should be a CEO-level priority.