Kenya’s hiring of CLS & Associates, a top Washington public relations firm to improve the country’s image in the US is a positive pointer that the country’s leadership has realized the power of a good image. However, the deal that will reportedly cost the taxpayer a whooping $ 1.7 Million over the next two years begs disturbing questions: why do we have a bad image in the first place? What steps are we taking to correct the cause of the bad image?

Hiring an image firm to sanitize the country  when the country can’t feed its people; has wanting governance; can’t protect its citizens against crime; can’t supply electricity; can’t supply water and is selling parcels of land to multinationals  is  like washing a  cup on the outside but leaving its inside dirty. A western propaganda machine to sanitize the late Omar Bongo did not stop the suffering and poverty of black Gabonese villagers from their government and foreign merchants in the extractive industry.

Kenya ought to improve its PR by being accountable to the electorate; promoting tribal cohesion; instituting an efficient and credible judicial system; and creating an environment that will spur individual innovation and productivity.