Technical Communication has a crucial role to play in our
country’s development agenda. This is because it facilitates sharing of complex
concepts, ideas and information in a simplified way. This helps people
understand how to use products, services, technology as well as the existing
business and government policies and regulations. The adage, information is
power, draws heavily from this profession
There is technical communication in every corner of the economy
regardless which direction we choose look. It exists in government,
private sector and in the non-profit sectors. It’s also in our varied
industries such as Agricultural, Health, Education, Finance and Manufacturing.
Then, it is indispensable in research and advocacy. It manifest openly in the
numerous reports, proposals, and manuals produced annually. It is essentially,
a part of our daily lives.
Given that this field does not attempt to make products and
organizations look good than they actually are, puts it on a high ethical
pedestal. This naturally makes it attract subtle antipathy from ‘not so
transparent’ players in the economy. Therefore, from organizations and
government departments that wish to conceal information to bush-league
enterprises that produce and sell unstandardized goods and services, technical
communication is not appreciated. Despite this unfriendliness, its principles
of honesty, completeness and purposefulness remain its most invaluable
characteristic.
This profession is suffocating in Kenya because of many
unsupportive and dishonest subject matter experts who refuse to provide all the
required and relevant information. This is worsened by laws that indefinitely
classify public information as confidential. Furthermore, there are the
unprofessional researchers and analysts who create data and facts from their
imagination. Then, we have the many irresponsible policy makers who want grand
development plans written for aesthetic reasons but without the intention nor
the possibility for implementation.
Technical communication is not being adequately utilized in civic
education to sensitize the people of their rights as enshrined in the
constitution. Therefore, members of parliament will still believe their work is
to initiate development projects in their villages. It is not used adequately
to provide an accurate understanding on how the Uwezo fund can benefit the
women and youth by giving the targeted groups researched viable projects that
they can engage in as to enable them repay the loans and post
decent profits.
It is not used to show how the government is creating jobs,
fighting poverty or explain the actual benefits of the standard gauge rail
road. For instance, exactly how many jobs will be created, of which cadres are
they, how much will they earn, how will they be distributed along the route and
are they permanent or temporary? How far have we gone with vision 2030 and what
contingency measures are we taking as a country to counter the delays in
achieving the goals?
Additionally, it is not being used in journalism to ask
politicians and opinion leaders hard questions concerning their campaign
promises and their political ideologies nor to give deep analysis of financial
and economic news or reports.
Then there are the increasing phenomena of
suboptimal commercial enterprises sprouting in the country. For instance, how
does a qualified technical communicator assist Murugu Herbal Clinic write
quality user instructions for their ‘medicines’?
And how do the regulators in the health sector allow ‘medicines’
and products without labels specifying clearly their ingredients, dosage, side
effects and production processes and procedures to be marketed openly. How do
such enterprises aspire to obtain patents and intellectual property rights as
well as an export market without professionally written documentation in the 21
century?
