MFWA Organises 2 Special Forums On MEDIA And PEACE

As part of efforts to contribute to peaceful elections, the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) is holding two special forums in Kumasi and Accra on the theme: Unprofessional Media Conduct: Implications for peace in the 2012 elections. The forum in Kumasi will be held at the Miklin Hotel on Thursday, November 29, 2012 and that of Accra on December 3, 2012. The forum in Kumasi will bring together radio station managers, moderators and hosts of political discussion programmes in Kumasi, Brong Ahafo and Northern Regions to deliberate on issues of professionalism in the media in the lead up to the December polls. Key speakers at the forum will be Mr. I.K. Gyasi, a Media Watcher and Columnist of The Chronicle, and Dr. Opoku-Amankwa, a Lecturer at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi. The speakers will address participants on unprofessional media conduct in the coverage of the electoral campaigns so far and make recommendations for improving the media�s conduct during and after the polls. Representatives of the various political parties will also make statements of their commitment to peaceful elections at the forum. The forum in Accra will be held at the British Council Hall and will have Mr. Patrice Mulama, Former Executive Secretary of the Media High Council of Rwanda to speak on �Radio and Genocide in Rwanda: Lessons for Ghana.� Other key speakers will include Mr. Soule Issiaka, Media Expert, former African Bureau Chief of Radio Netherlands, and current consult of the UN on media for peace, and Mr. Akoto Ampaw, Media Law Expert in Ghana. Both events form part of the MFWA�s project on �Promoting Issues-Based and Decent Language Campaigning for peaceful, Free and Fair Elections in Ghana in 2012.� The project is informed by the increasing resort to indecent expressions among political party activists in elections-related and general political discussions, particularly on radio. With less than two weeks to the December polls, the MFWA is organising these forums to highlight the potentially negative ramifications of intemperate expressions and irresponsible media conduct. The MFWA on November 20, 2012 held the first of such forums at the British Council Hall in Accra chaired by the Most. Rev. Prof. Emmanuel Asante, Chairperson-National Peace Council. The forum featured speakers from Kenya and Cote d�Ivoire who shared with Ghanaians the media�s role in elections-related violence in their respective countries. Issued by MFWA in Accra on November 27, 2012 The MFWA is a regional independent, non-profit, non-governmental organization based in Accra. It was founded in 1997 to defend and promote the rights and freedom of the media and all forms of expression.