The Ghana Independent Broadcasters Association (GIBA) has pledged One-Hundred Thousand Ghana Cedis (GHc100,000) worth of broadcast airtime in support of the Electoral Commission’s publicity activities.
The gesture, which was announced by the President of the Association Mr. Akwesi Agyemang during the launch of GIBA’s Code of Conduct for Responsible Reporting, was in response to an appeal made by the Chairperson of the Electoral Commission, Mrs. Charlotte Osei.
Speaking at the ceremony, Mrs. Charlotte Osei asked the media to consider dedicating more time in support of the Commission’s voter education activities.
She said: “We believe the democratic process would be greatly enhanced if members of GIBA would grant the Commission more time and attention to engage the voters and educate them better.”
“Delivering a credible electoral outcome is not only the responsibility of the Electoral Commission. It is indeed a collective responsibility of all Ghanaians; inclusive of the media. The Commission’s plans for organizing a successful election would not materialize, if the voting public lacks access to the information that they need in order to make informed choices,” she said.
Mrs. Osei congratulated the Association on its initiative to ensure discipline and sanity on the airwaves before, during and after the 2016 general elections.
She expressed the Commission’s appreciation to the President and Executive team of GIBA for their support and assured them of a mutually beneficial partnership for a credible and transparent electoral process and outcome.
Below is the full speech delivered by the Chairperson of the EC:
SOLIDARITY MESSAGE BY MRS. CHARLOTTE OSEI, CHAIRPERSON OF THE ELECTORAL COMMISSION GHANA, AT THE LAUNCH OF GIBA CODE OF CONDUCT FOR RESPONSIBLE REPORTING; HELD AT THE COCONUT GROVE REGENCY HOTEL IN ACCRA ON TUESDAY JULY 26, 2016
Mr. Chairman, Hon. Minister of Communications, President and Executives of GIBA, Fellow Commissioners of NMC, NCCE, Invited Guests, Ladies and Gentlemen of the Media, Good morning.
It is a true pleasure and an honour to be invited by your Association to be a witness to this very important ceremony today on behalf of the Electoral Commission of Ghana.
Mr. Chairman, distinguished Ladies and Gentlemen, The Electoral Commission considers this morning’s event extremely significant for a number of reasons. First, it is an indication of your Association’s desire to improve the quality of communication on the platforms of your members.
Second, it is a confirmation of your Association’s interest in facilitating a peaceful political and democratic process during this election year. And thirdly, it is an attempt to self-regulate; to have an established standard against which performance in the media will be measured. For these reasons, I believe this initiative deserves the highest commendations. Congratulations to you Mr. President and your team.
Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen, It is a fundamental fact that in a democratic society such as ours, and more particularly in an election year, the media is a critical bridge, connecting the political stakeholders with the voters. Currently, we have 26 registered political parties competing against each other to win the hearts, minds and votes of Ghanaians to govern. In such a highly competitive environment, the media often becomes the preferred vehicle for the parties to sell their messages. It is therefore not so surprising to tune on the radio and tv and get bombarded with highly charged political discussions from morning to evening. However, none of the parties could achieve its aims of getting the mandate to govern if the voters are not properly educated on how to exercise their political choices. We believe the democratic process would be greatly enhanced if members of GIBA would grant the Commission more time and attention to engage the voters and educate them better.
Mr. Chairman, Delivering a credible electoral outcome is not only the responsibility of the Electoral Commission. It is indeed a collective responsibility of all Ghanaians; inclusive of the media. The Commission’s plans for organizing a successful election would not materialize, if the voting public lacks access to the information that they need in order to make informed choices.
It is the 9th day of the ongoing voters’ register exhibition exercise and reregistration of the deleted NHIS card registrants. While the Commission is doing all it can to drive enthusiasm among the public to visit their polling stations to check their details and get verified to vote, it is important for the media to consider supporting the Commission’s efforts by dedicating more airtime to encouraging registered voters to participate in the exercise.
As my predecessor Dr. Kwadwo Afari-Gyan has said previously, “One of the major props of democracy is free media. However, while good journalism brings blessings and joy, bad journalism brings untold hardships and sorrow to countries, groups, and individuals.” There is no doubt in my mind that today's programme sets the independent media on the path of good journalism and must be lauded and encouraged by all who care about our country.
The level of influence and control the media has on society was aptly captured by the African-American civil rights activist, Malcom X when he said: “the media is the most powerful entity on earth. They have the power to make the innocent guilty and to make the guilty innocent, and that's power. Because they control the minds of the masses.” In the interest of our country and our collective future, we at the Electoral Commission, urge the media, to use this most powerful of weapons with the utmost care and in the collective interest of Ghana.
Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen, Bad journalism anywhere is a threat to peace, political stability and democratic growth everywhere. Therefore in a highly charged election year such as this, a Code of Conduct of this nature, becomes not only important, but also critical.
It is my understanding that the Code defines exactly what constitutes objectionable journalism material, as well as corruption, and professionalism in the media. We at the Electoral Commission are also very pleased that the Code of Conduct prohibits hate, incitement and insulting speech; enjoins members to cross-check allegations; and provides specific guidelines for political and election reportage.
Mr. Chairman, Ladies and Gentlemen,
As earlier hinted, this is another critical year in the history of this country. All over the world, we are known as the oasis of peace and stability in a region which has experienced tremendous strife, civil war and political instability. The EC’s phenomenal role in contributing to this achievement cannot be overemphasized. On each of the six previous occasions, the EC asserted its independence through the organization of free, fair, transparent and credible polls.
Despite our impressive track-record, we are not prepared to be complacent. As a result, we have accepted and are implementing some 8 internal and 27 electoral reforms aimed at making this year’s elections our best ever. Key among them is a more transparent and inclusive results transmission and collation process from the polling station to constituency, and from the constituency collation centres to the more open and transparent National Results Collation Centre which will replace the previous strong room concept.
For the first time, we intend to allow television cameras into the National Results Collation Centre to enable journalists to report accurately and fairly on every aspect of the process. We believe this will engender even higher levels of public confidence in our electoral process.
Mr. Chairman, I wish to state that this morning’s exercise would be pointless if this Code is allowed to only decorate the desks of member media houses without any real effort to ensure it impacts on broadcast content. As a result, I wish to conclude by appealing to GIBA to be prepared to enforce the specified sanctions on erring members if any aspect of this code is violated.
It is the only way to ensure discipline and sanity in the media before, during and after the 2016 elections. Together, as very valued partners in the work of the Electoral Commission, let us use the power we have as the media, to build up our country, to serve the interests of our citizens without fear or favour, to uphold the truth and not to destroy our country.
We commend the leadership and members of GIBA for this very positive and extraordinary milestone we have witnessed today. We wish you well on this journey. God bless GIBA and God bless our homeland Ghana.
Signed and Issued by: ERIC KOFI DZAKPASU Head of Communications
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