Journalists schooled on laws relating to election


A Legal Practitioners and the Executive Director of Legal Resource Centre, LRC, and Daphne Lariba Nabila has underscored the need for journalists to protect the rights of electorates and be mindful of legal principles bordering on elections. 

She says it is important for journalists to play their watchdog role in exposing rots and human right violations during elections. 

Ms. Nabila was emphatic about actions that constitutes a violation of rights and charged the media to highlight and address such activities to the appropriate quarters for redress. 

She made the call at a two-day capacity training workshop on responsible election reportage for media practitioners drawn from the Northern, Upper East and Upper West in Sunyani. 

GBC’s Isaac Asare was there for Radio Ghana and reports that the capacity training sought to provide guidance and practical knowledge for effective, non-violent, positive citizen participation in election. 

It was also aimed at equipping journalist with the requisite skills in election reportage to ensure a violent free, transparent and credible general elections. 

Participants were taken through various topics such as basic media ethics, role of the media in conflict management and peace building, ethical guidelines in elections reportage as well as general guidelines for credible election coverage.  

Mr Francis Ameyibor is one of the facilitators from the Communication for Development and Advocacy, CDA, and underlines the essence of the training workshop.

This year’s general election is said to remain or grow increasingly more tense as parties and candidates fight in a quest to retain their strongholds and gain marginal advantage in competitive constituencies. 

In the light of this, it has become necessary to educate stakeholders in the electoral business to intensify their education on elections in an effort to increase the level of participation while contributing to resolving electoral disputes. 

Speaking to Radio Ghana, the Executive Director of LRC, Daphne Lariba Nabila, said the laws of the country places high premium on issues of human right violation and also laws relating to elections, and that the media as key stakeholder, has a major role to play in protecting the rights of persons, hence the need for the training workshop.

The capacity training workshop was being organized by the LRC under a project dubbed:  Elections 2016: Promoting Responsible and Peaceful Electoral Leadership. 

It was attended by over 30 media practitioners including seasoned journalists and radio presenters.


GBC