Group picture of the participants
SOME SELECTED journalists and civil society activists in the Brong Ahafo, Ashanti and three Northern regions have ended a day?s training workshop in Sunyani aimed at connecting the media and civil society for a credible general election.
The workshop, which forms part of the Africa Elections Project, was geared towards enabling peaceful, transparent and credible elections in Ghana using a new media project coordinated by the International Institute for ICT Journalism (Penplusbytes) with funding from STAR-Ghana.
Addressing the participants, Projects Director of Penplusbytes, Jerry Sam, explained that the training was aimed at facilitating effective civil society interaction with the ultimate objective of serving citizens better by providing them with an election information resource that will enable them make informed choices and sensitize them against electoral violence.
He said the project will seek to improve information and knowledge exchange on elections among the media and civil society using ICTs towards the realization of peaceful, transparent and credible elections.
?Over the project lifespan, our outcome will be achieved through the design and implementation of an ICTs system made up of an elections online platform integrated with SMS, email discussion list, early warning feedback hub mashed-up web 2.0 tools such as twitter, facebook, podcasting, flickr and youtube combined with a face to face interventions,? he pointed out.
These platforms, Mr. Sam explained, will connect citizens? electoral concerns to security agencies and civil society actors leading to messages being exchanged to prevent and control election violence and irregularities.
A message from STAR-Ghana said Ghana has made significant gains in its democratic governance and has been praised for respecting fundamental electoral freedoms and conducting presidential and parliamentary elections in an open, transparent and competitive environment.
According to the statement, STAR-Ghana?s goal of funding civil society to participate in the 2012 elections is underscored by its recognition of the critical role that civil society and non-state actors have to play in consolidating Ghana?s democratic gains by ensuring an effectively organized election and smooth transition to the next parliament.
?Access to credible information is critical to the success of this election and new media has been found to be an effective and interactive tool for disseminating information,? the message stated, whiles commending Penplusbytes? innovation in the use of new media to provide citizens with electoral information.
Deputy Brong Ahafo Regional Director of the Electoral Commission (EC), Samuel Boadu, said the EC has conducted four successful general elections interspersed with local government elections.
He attributed these successes to the strict adherence to basic fundamental principles of a clear, fair and equitable rules applied by the EC.
?In ensuring free, fair and transparent elections, the commission over the years has applied the laws, processes and procedures of the election fairly and firmly without favour to any authority, candidate or party,? he said.
FROM Fred Tettey Alarti-Amoako, Sunyani
