Examining Communication Techniques Adopted By The Senate To Promote Mandatory Public Participation In Kenya
Abstract
The aim of this study was to examine the communication strategies adopted by the Senate of the Republic of Kenya to promote mandatory public participation. This study was guided by participatory communication theory and the gate keeping theory. The study applied mixed research approach. This study drew its population from the members of the public in the Central Business District, Nairobi, the members of staff who serve in the Senate Committees and the Senators. It used purposive random sampling to collect quantitative data and criterion purposeful sampling to collect qualitative data. Quantitative data was collected using survey questionnaires. The researcher administered 400 questionnaires to sample a population of Nairobi City County residents. The responses were then analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The findings were summarised and presented using percentages, bar charts and pie charts. For the qualitative data, ten in-depth interviews were conducted using a detailed interview guide and thematically analysed. The study found out that the Senate majorly advertises the public hearings in three daily newspapers; Daily Nation, The Star and The Standard and more than 50 per cent of the respondents admitted of having not seen the advertisements. The study also found out that the Senate sends letters to the stakeholders to invite them to the public hearings. Out of all the respondents who had attended the public hearings, 79 per cent had not been influenced by the advertisements in the daily newspapers. On the other hand, this study found out that the respondents who have attended the public hearings organised by the Senate had a positive impression of the Senate and its work. The study found out that 66 per cent of the respondents who have attended the public hearing sessions were satisfied with the work of the Senate. The study recommends the following: the Senate should use the new media to communicate to the public of the upcoming public hearings for this will help them reach a bigger audience; employ more staff to handle communication matters; reduce the bureaucracy of the approval of the invitation letters to be sent to the stakeholders; reduce the bureaucracy of getting funds for the advertisement on the daily newspapers for the advertisements to be placed in the daily newspapers in good time; explore other methods of creating awareness regarding the upcoming hearings such as road shows, regional workshops, collaborate with the county assemblies by having the assemblies collect the views of the public on their behalf; advertise on radio or have radio programs and have Senators talk of the upcoming public participation on television and radio.
Publisher
UoN
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Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 United StatesUsage Rights
http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/3.0/us/Collections
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