COVID-19-Related Information: The Politics in Crises and Disaster Management Communication in sub-Saharan Africa

Media statements by various political figures and politicians across the world regarding the COVID-19 pandemic are often laced with political nuances and are sometimes interpreted in ways that seek to achieve certain political ends. Capitalising on the inadequacies of many governments’ communication and limited information around COVID-19, COVID-19-related communication by opposition politicians and their political formations are largely characterised by brinkmanship, grandstanding and positioning to gain publicity traction. Like in the rest of the world, the intersection of politics and crisis communication in sub-Saharan Africa pre-dates the COVID-19 pandemic. In this case, politicians expediently pick and choose COVID-19-related information and tailor it to achieve narratives that work in their favour, often compromising the effectiveness of official health messages by health institutions. Reviewing available literature, using the Propaganda Model as a guiding theory for this chapter, it is evidenced that political posturing found its way in most COVID-19-related communication in sub-Saharan African countries. A notable difference, as pointed out in literature, is that, unlike in other parts of the world, sub-Saharan Africa’s responses entailed more inward-looking propaganda as opposed to the outward-focused strategy by, for instance, China and the USA. After exploring COVID-19-related literature and the propaganda theory, there is evidence of the interface between politics and disaster management communication and the politicisation of the pandemic at the expense of sharing honest and accurate health information for the benefit of society.