Effective communication as a critical tool of governance

What you need to know:

“…the government of the people, by the people, for the people shall not perish from the earth….” – Abraham Lincoln, Gettysburg Address

As a gifted orator, Mwalimu would regularly speak to the people explaining logically, persuasively policy initiatives and important government decisions. Many of his momentous changes were extensively explained and advocated. The Arusha Declaration was even made part of the primary education curriculum to ensure buy in. The one major decision that to me defined Mwalimu’s leadership was his justification for war against Amin’s Uganda. On November 2, 1978, at Diamond Jubilee Hall and live on Radio Tanzania, in a memorable address Mwalimu achieved two objectives. Explaining to the country the situation, justifying to the country the reasons to go to war and reassuring the population our capacity to go to war as he was constitutionally mandated to do. Second, Mwalimu effectively rallied the entire country behind the war effort (Uwezo tunao, sababu tunayo na nia tunayo). We succeeded in removing Amin at great economic cost to our country. Throughout Mwalimu’s 24 years in power, the economic situation in the aftermath of the war was at its worst. Despite this, Mwalimu’s approval rating at the next election in 1980 was at its highest. I posit that this was due to the effectiveness of his communication strategy. Tanzanians understood him, supported him and were willing to bare the brunt of the economy solidly behind him.

Effective communication as a critical tool of governance

What you need to know:

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