The President of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA), Mr Albert Kwabena Dwumfour has stated that anyone who does not want peace is an enemy of progress.
“Peace is an embodiment of development and progress, and therefore, anyone who does not want peace, is equally an enemy of progress and development. To this end, the peace, we enjoy in our country, whether in an election year, or non-election year, must at all times be jealously protected and sustained,” he said.
He said this at a public forum on countering Mis/disinformation and propaganda narratives in Ghana’s 2024 elections.
As part of the efforts to counter the phenomenon of mis/disinformation, hate speech, and polarising narratives, before, during, and after Ghana’s 2024 elections, the MFWA with funding support from the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office (FCDO), UK, organised a public forum on Countering Mis/disinformation and propaganda narratives in Ghana’s 2024 Elections.
The forum held yesterday brought together about 150 participants including
governance and media experts, security analysts, legal experts, CSOs, public/state institutions, political parties, religious groups, journalists, the diplomatic community, and human rights experts to deliberate on the phenomenon of mis/disinformation and propaganda narratives and their impact on the political discourse, media, peace, and security in Ghana.
Participants also identified challenges and proffered key recommendations on how the country can build resilience against misinformation prior to the elections.
The GJA President believed that the forum was timely as it set the tone for healthy national discourse ahead of this crucial general election.
He commended the Media Foundation for West Africa for being proactive in promoting peaceful and issue-based elections through a critical and vital forum.
Mr Dwumfour noted that the GJA has already initiated steps to ensure peaceful elections through several workshops and fora.
“Currently, with the support of the US Embassy, we’re training journalists through a project dubbed “GJA/US Embassy Workshop on Journalists for Peaceful Discourse,” he said.
Noting the objectives of the project, Mr Dwumfour
stated that the GJA has facilitated similar workshops for bloggers and social media influencers.
“We all know that this issue of disinformation is very rife on social media and it is therefore necessary to engage persons who have some influence on the social media space. You may recall that the GJA recently blacklisted some political actors following attacks on journalists by their followers. This action by us drums home the point that we ever ready to call out persons and entities who may want to compromise the peace of this country,” he reteirated.
Dwelling on positive peace, the GJA President was of the view that
Positive peace, if nurtured well, will offer the country transformational development with cross-cutting factors all required to inspire progress, and promote business growth of entrepreneurs, professionals, and scientists among others.
“A peaceful platform will then be created for the country to industrialize, innovate, and ultimately improve the welfare and well-being of all citizens as governments continue to effectively regulate the country,” he stated.
Mr Dwumfour again said,”If we really want to maintain peace and tranquillity in the country, before, during, and after the general elections, then we must be bold enough to hold our security operatives accountable as the watchdogs of Ghanaian society, we must equally be firm enough to hold the executive accountable alongside the Electoral Commission (EC) when they fail their part to do what is right as the government in office, and the commission in charge of electoral process respectively.”
He continued, “We will again have to be bold to hold the judiciary accountable whenever they fail to offer justice delivery with dispatch in cases relative to political violence.”
He added that “Above all, we must be courageous enough to hold our own people, media practitioners, accountable whenever they mislead the public, misinform the public, or incite the public against state institutions mandated to perform their functions as the law requires.”
Mr Dwumfour also made it known that the GJA will soon embark on fact-checking workshops and training across the country to tackle mis/disinformation to promote peaceful elections.
That, he said would include all stakeholders.
“Once again, I hereby affirm that the GJA is committed to peace ahead of this year’s election and will ensure that our members do not allow their media space to be abused by some unscrupulous persons or groups of persons who may have the intention to mar the peace of this beautiful country,” he added.
