MUNDUBILE AHEAD
POLITICAL COMMUNICATION AND AGENDA SETTING – THE MUNDUBILE FACTOR
A KBN TV EDITORIAL
In political communication, agenda setting and shaping the correct narrative is key to occupying the front seat as well as getting public approval and buy in.
Conversely, the worst place to be in a contest of ideas and communication, is being caught up on the back foot of constructing reactive narratives.
As we observe the political communication playing out 43 days before elections, it’s very clear that Brian Mundubile is enjoying the correct spotlight and occupying the right narrative shaping front seat in this political contest.
We must realise that there are 14 Presidential candidates on the ballot, but only two, Brian Mundubile and Hakainde Hichilema, seem to be creating the right and noticeable traction with both voters and social media commentators.
Of the two, it’s Mundubile who seems to be in charge of setting the political messaging agenda and narrative that’s causing his competitors to react from all fronts.
How do we know that, from the time he struck a cord with the masses about the irony of massive foreign reserves against the reality of unpaid local suppliers and contractors, his message was followed by a barrage of lectures, memes, and condemnation from supporters of his closest rival.
The highly publicised Heroes Stadium campaign launch event was largely punctuated by a chorus of rebuttal messages about Mundubile’s message on foreign reserves.
Many social media commentators and political pundits have since asked the question, what could have been the launch message had Mundubile not poured scorn on the foreign reserves?
Yesterday, Mundubile was at it again in Chinsali, setting the agenda and bringing finality to the unanswered question regarding the burial of late sixth Republican President, Edgar Chagwa Lungu.
Bubbling with confidence from what many are calling a record turnout of curious local residents who came to hear a message of hope from a political sensation born only two months ago, he spoke with confidence and conviction that ECL will be put to rest after the August 13 elections.
With that massage, another string of miscalculated rebuttals on the back foot of the ECL burial narrative have emerged, flooding social media.
What those pushing counter narratives should realise is that they are not making Mundubile appear bad or unreasonable, they are rather giving him unfettered access to their platforms of influence for FREE, confirming he is owning the narrative they are reacting to.
It’s not necessarily that people don’t want ECL to be buried or the timing of the proposed burial timeframe, it’s rather the fact that the narrative to give finality to a protracted and acrimonious legal battle of Lungu’s burial, is coming from an unexpected corner of ‘boys.’
The question to ask is not what Mundubile is saying, but that why is it that messages from the other 13 candidates may not be receiving an equal measure of resonance and or public scrutiny in some cases?
The answer at this stage lies with who is really controlling the political landscape narrative and pushing correct messaging?
It’s our considered view that Mundubile has taken the front row seat in owning the space to shape the correct political narrative.
Our advice to other players is for them to stop being reactive to what Mundubile is saying. They should stick to their original campaign messages, compete favourably and equally to convince supporters without demeaning others, calling them dull or uneducated.
It’s for this reason that Mundubile had to take a break from his hectic campaign schedule to put into right context a potential distortion of his messaging regarding development in general and the need for an international airport in Western Province.
His personal intervention was both timely and appropriate to sustain the correct momentum of political communication and agenda setting.