On November 12 2021, Malawi’s Vice President Dr Saulos Klaus Chilima officially opened the Public Relations Society of Malawi (PRSM) Annual Lakeshore Conference in Mangochi. This is what he said:
Ladies and Gentlemen.
It is an honour to address this important grouping of public relations (PR) and communication practitioners. You are the people whose work pivots the fulfilment of government’s or any organisation’s strategic goals.
To underscore the importance of your work, let me say that if I were invited on the condition that I only say two things and then sit down, I would say the following: First is a quote from James Madison, the fourth United States of America President who, in 1822 said, and I quote: “A popular government without popular information or the means of acquiring it is but a prologue to a farce or a tragedy, or perhaps both”. End of quote.
The second would be from none other than Abraham Lincoln, who declared in 1864 that, and I quote: “Let the people know the facts, and the country will be safe.” End of quote.
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The two statements by the two US presidents underscore the critical role played by leadership in facilitating the flow of information in a democratic dispensation where duty bearers are required to be accountable and transparent.
A government has to be transparent and accountable through proper, timely, sustained and decisive information sharing by PR professionals. To put it differently, the availability of information prevents rumour mongering, which is always a recipe for chaos.
Personally, as a marketer myself, I know what good PR and communication can do to any organisation—be it public or private. PR is, indeed, a distinctive management function which helps establish and maintain mutual lines of communication, understanding, acceptance and cooperation between the organization and its publics.
Perhaps in all the definitions of PR, the International Public Relations Society’s (IPRS) definition–well known as the Mexican Statement— defines PR much better: It says Public Relations …“is the art and science of analyzing trends, predicting its consequences, counselling organisational leaders and preparing planned programmes of action for the benefit of the organisation and its publics”. This definition clearly puts PR as a management function.
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I should, therefore, suggest that as the society you must lobby for employers to recognise and treat you as such. Oftentimes I have urged various CEOs that I meet during reform meetings to come along with their PR professionals but this is not usually the case. It appears there is a tradition–a wrong tradition for that matter–where PR professionals are taken as an afterthought. This is wrong and is detrimental to the reputation of an organisation that is serious in seeking sustained positive corporate image.
We must correct this. I, therefore, challenge you to make sure we fully incorporate the PR role into a management function.
I would like to reiterate that effective PR and communication can advance the country’s nation-building efforts and goals by enhancing national unity and this is an opportunity we need to seize and integrate in our development efforts. Any national development agenda or vision that does not do enough to engage citizens is as good as already failed… It becomes almost obvious, therefore, that if you can employ strategic PR and communication-for-development approaches, you can position yourselves as assets in promoting unity of effort in our country.
While making this call, government is not blind to the fact that PR practitioners are facing a number of challenges such as [the] absence of proper policies to support the operations of PR and communication practitioners.
On behalf of the Tonse Alliance administration, I would like to assure you that we shall put in place various mechanisms to ensure that you operate in a conducive environment.
Government will also ensure that there is a deliberate capacity building mechanism to ensure that those discharging PR and communication roles are well trained.
Let me take this opportunity to further raise the issue of resuscitating the process of finalising the Government’s Communications Strategy to ensure that the flow of public information is well coordinated across the government machinery.
It is inconceivable that in this day and age, government should be operating without an overarching communications strategy. We, as a country and as a government, must define clearly our communication priorities for each year and direct all efforts and resources into that. That’s how many developed countries do it. At the start of each year, they produce and circulate government communication strategies and plans which support delivery of national strategic objectives. In line with government’s reform agenda, I would like us to go in that direction…More so with the Presidential Delivery Unit–which would require to be embedded in the Government Communication Strategy for the public to appreciate the implementation progress of the presidential campaign promises.
Indeed, Malawi will develop when we—as leaders—realise the wisdom in the principle: ‘Power shared is power multiplied, not power diminished’.
The powerful speech by late Dr Chilima, who was laid to rest on June 17 2024, illustrate his passion for effective PR and communication at all levels. May his legacy continue to inspire us to all. Rest in peace SKC!
