The National Peace Council (NPC) as part of its mandate to ensure peaceful election activities before, during , and after the 2024 December elections, organised a two-day media training for journalists in the Savannah Region at Damongo in the West Gonja Municipality. The National Peace Council called for an end to hate speech in political discourse, citing concerns over its growing prevalence and potential to incite violence ahead of the December 7 general elections.
The training started on Wednesday 4th September and ended on Thursday 5th September, 2024. The training focused on thematic areas such as understanding conflict and violence, conflict sensitive reporting, peace reporting, hate speech, misinformation, disinformation, and mal information, among others.
The training was organized under the ‘Preventing Violent Extremism Through Social Accountability’ (POVETSA) project in partnership with the Catholic Relief Services (CRS) and sponsored by the Kingdom of the Netherlands for three (3) years.
The training brought together 35 media practitioners from various media houses and information services department.
Rev Fr. Lazarus Annyereh, the Savannah Regional chairman of the National Peace Council noted that journalists must be circumspect in their reportage and expressions to ensure peaceful elections.
“Indeed, this is a timely programme for us. why do I say it is timely, very soon we will be going to elections and I pray this programme covers the whole nation. It is not only in the Savannah or the Northern Region that are fragile when it comes to issues of security and peace. Already we are vulnerable to violence, coupled with the disturbed political arena. The waters have become so turbulent and I am even sure if we are not careful and we don’t close the valves, there will be an explosion. But as a journalist, you can do a lot with what you report”.
The deputy director in charge of conflict management at the National Peace Council, Frank Wilson Bodza explained that the 3-year project is aimed at sustaining peaceful democratic dispensation and the nation’s stability.
“The second thing is that we are working towards elections and this is the 9th elections since 1992. Many of us wouldn’t have known what happened in the 1990s, 1980s. But today we are grateful to God we have a stable country, a stable democracy and that is what we want to sustain.”
Frank Wilson indicated that the National Peace Council would also engage other stakeholders charged with the responsibility of ensuring peace before, during and after the December 2024 polls.
The journalists were taken through interactive sessions, group discussions, and presentations to enhance their understanding of the critical role they play in shaping positive public opinions.
The media practitioners expressed gratitude to the organizers and made an appeal for more of such training to enhance capacity.
A member of the Savannah regional Peace Council, Sheikh Kamil Mohammed Elias urged the media to put in measures to control violent expressions of political actors using their platforms. This will help prevent escalated conflicts and also prevent violence.
Abdulai Zulkaninu
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