Victims’ Perceptions Towards Government Communication on Terror the Case of Garissa University College Attack

Abstract

In this study, I explored the phenomenological question on what perceptions terror victims had towards government communication on terror (GCT) during the Garissa University College terror attack. During the attack, anxious citizens yearned for government communication to enable them to make decisions on their safety. A review of relevant literature revealed that GCT had not been problematized from the perspective of the terror victims. Through the study’s research questions, I sought to understand the expectations terror victims had of government communication, how terror victims experienced and understood the government based on its communication on terror, what terror victims perceived as the message typologies in GCT, and what individual and shared terror victims’ perceptions were constructed towards GCT. I targeted students and staff who survived the attack and their families, as well as the families of the 147 students and staff who died during the attack. Over a period of four months, I used the snowball sampling technique to conduct ten in-depth interviews. The study findings revealed the need for a comprehensive GCT. Further, the findings revealed a high ranking for action every time the government communicates on terror; and that GCT is at its optimum when it is considered in a continuum where communication punctuates messages on policies, precepts and procedures, interventions, relationships, and ultimately, the actions taken by the government. The study also established that the terror victims’ perceptions had sprung from their expectations of GCT. Several recommendations were drawn from the study findings and discussions, key among them, the urgent need to form a fully-fledged GCT unit to enable the government to deal with issues arising from terror activities. Finally, the government should make every effort to remain agile on matters communication.