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Why brands must build peace as they make money

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Police officers in a peace march in Nyeri town last week. They will traverse five counties in Central region to promote peace ahead of the August General Election. photo | joseph kanyi

In the run-up to the 2013 general election, push for peace was evident. Streets were painted with peace signs; murals urging non-violence decorated public buildings; supporters of rival parties embraced each other in a show of unity with their campaign materials all incorporating peace messages; and companies ran advertisements calling for peace.

However, as we gear up to this year’s election, peace campaigns are barely visible, despite the fact that 70 per cent of Kenyans are afraid that violence will be experienced, according to a survey conducted by advocacy research group, Twaweza East Africa.

“Another 44 per cent said that they were very afraid and only 28 per cent said that were not worried of the possibility of violence erupting. The election period is an emotive one and at that time, violence is usually hovering and it can be easily triggered hence why a majority of Kenyans are afraid of another election-based violence,” said Victor Rateng, the Senior Programme Officer at Twaweza East Africa.

However, the lacklustre approach by corporates to issuing peace messages ahead of this year’s election may have more to do with the relatively peaceful 2013 elections than with either the prospects of violence in 2017, or any view that the 2013 peace campaigns were ineffective.

As it was, the last election saw peace maintained despite a wait of five days for the electoral commission to tally the votes, due to technical difficulties, and even after a petition by the opposition party to nullify the results after they were announced.

But with these challenges navigated without deaths, a new crop of young people has now come of age for whom the violence experienced in the past is a distant memory.

“Yes, we have not seen as many peace campaigns in this election year as we did in the previous one. It is mainly because last time the impact of the 2007/8 post election violence was still fresh in our minds, thus there was an urgent need to prevent a repeat of the same,” said Mr Rateng.

“But we still need them now, especially when there is a youthful population that is jobless, vulnerable and economically disengaged. They need to be reminded constantly through cognitive messages what comes after the elections and especially after the results are announced. It is not easy to influence a 40 year old, but it is easy to influence a 20-something idealistic youth.”

Indeed, all the evidence suggests that the peace messaging in 2013 was effective, across a multi-faceted set of campaigns.

One of many, paint manufacturer Crown Paints #ticker:BERG launched an online peace campaign called “Uniting Colours of Kenya” where people posted peace messages and videos during the period. It was strategically launched in Kibera, one of the most affected areas during the post-election violence in 2007/08.

Kenya’s largest telco, Safaricom #ticker:SCOM partnered with a non-government organisation Sisi Ni Amani (SNA-K) to promote peace through text messages.

It donated 50 million free text messages allowing them to send peace messages countering the negative role that text messages played in the spread of violence during the 2007 election. The messages helped people avoid areas of unrest, instilled calm, and called for patience during the extended ballot count.

African Laughter