Rokia DOUMBIA known as Rose, Madame expensive life, was arrested last week and placed under a warrant. For saying that: life is expensive, a reality difficult to bear on a daily basis. His arrest and imprisonment are the subject of debate within Malian public opinion. If some of her compatriots accuse the authorities of having arrested her wrongly, others, on the other hand, maintain that she deserved it. Did she say wrong when talking about the high cost of living in Mali? Do the authorities have valid reasons to put her under a warrant of committal?
Without however making a value judgement, it seems useful to us to deal with this subject, from the angle of communication and political marketing. In truth, life is beautiful and very expensive in Mali. The prices of basic necessities have been climbing for months. It is not easy to eat normally, insofar as the heads of families no longer manage to give the money for meals correctly. Moreover, it is the money that has become insignificant to make the normal purchase that can feed a family.
Wholesalers, semi-wholesalers, retailers and shopkeepers all testify that the goods they import are very expensive. But it is surprising that basic necessities, grown and produced locally in Mali, are doubly expensive on the national market. This is the case of beans, rice, sugar, tomatoes, eggplants, peppers, among others grown locally.
In addition, water and electricity are constantly cut. There are a number of areas of the country where people have neither electricity nor drinking water. As for the prices of public transport, it is downright a Chinese puzzle. To facilitate travel, the Malian population, for the most part, travels by motorcycle taxi and Sotrama.
The money no longer circulates. Poverty is in all families. Those who helped, no longer have enough to show their generosity, as usual. Despite the spirit of sharing and solidarity, few people can respond positively to requests from parents, friends and acquaintances.
This is the reality that the Malian population is confronted with on a daily basis. So, one can normally wonder: why was Mrs. Rokia Doumbia known as Rose, expensive life, arrested for denouncing a fact that is real?
Based on communication and political marketing, we doubt that the fact of denouncing is here, in question. We believe rather that it is the way or the manner in which she denounced that is really the cause of her arrest and her committal. Indeed, communication in the professional sense of the term, is a very complex discipline that contains risks. This is why we advise candidates for public speaking: to be extremely careful. Especially when the context is political.
That whoever decides to express himself, conforms to the rules and techniques of communication. There are a number of prerequisites to manage before exteriorizing. What to say ? Who to tell? Where to say it? When to say it? How can I say ? Etc. Observing the rules and techniques of communication allows the speaker to be better listened to, heard and understood.
With regard to Mrs. Rokia DOUMBIA known as Rose, it is possible that she made errors or faults, on the question of How to say, what she had to say, and which was nevertheless very true. Life is very expensive on a daily basis in Mali. But, she surely wouldn’t have communicated well. She might have used inappropriate language, offensive vocabularies, unmeasured words about courtesy etc. Basically, she said what the population is really going through. But she certainly misspoke this eye-popping truth. To sum up, communication is a complex discipline.
Monoko Toaly, Expert in Communication and Political Marketing
