There have been repeated calls on journalists to support the National Commission for Civic Education, NCCE, to work effectively. Media men must provide NCCE with their platforms to educate citizens on their rights and obligations. Again, journalists, ‘the nation watchers’, must serve as civic educators using media platforms to remind citizens of their civic duties. These were the convictions of resource persons at the NCCE/EU 2018 Media Advocacy Workshop held in Kumasi. In all, forty (40) selected journalists from the Upper East, Upper West, Brong Ahafo, Western and Ashanti Regions attended the workshop.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, Chairman of NCCE, Ms. Josephine Nkrumah, said the media have an additional role to sustain Ghana’s democracy as well as engender civic consciousness among the citizenry. The media in Ghana must, therefore, keep their doors open to the NCCE to reach out to the masses with constitutional and civic messages. ‘As watchers of our nation, the media must have a closer relationship with the NCCE to actively educate citizens on their civic duties’, she said. She was unhappy that over the years, the media have not prioritized the work and activities of NCCE, especially when all its activities are geared towards engendering civic consciousness among Ghanaians. She was hopeful that at the close of the media advocacy workshop, media men will begin to show interest in the NCCE and its mandate.
A facilitator and Chairman of the National Media Commission, Nana Kwasi Gyan-Apenteng took participants through the Media and Civic Education. He urged the media to incorporate civic journalism in their day to day media reportage. He noted that the work of the media and that of NCCE are intertwined hence the need for effective collaboration.
A private legal practitioner and host of Joy FM’s News File, Lawyer Samson Lardy Anyenini, charged Ghanaian journalists to show a keen interest in the work of the NCCE. He said if the media took up the major role of the NCCE, thus educating the public on the principles and objectives of the 1992 Constitution, Ghana will live in peace and practice the best democracy ever in our part of the world. He was convinced that the media in Ghana have been a huge failure with respect to assisting the NCCE to realize its mandate. He added that ‘If the media is bold to condemn the NCCE for not doing much, the same media must be bold to condemn its members for neglecting the NCCE and its Constitutional mandate.’
The Communications and Corporate Affairs Director of the NCCE, Mrs. Joyce Afutu, in a brief overview of the Commission’s activities, shed light upon the functions, strategies, and flagship programmes. She also touched on the concept of civic education.
The Ashanti Regional Director of the NCCE, Mr. Arthur Wilson, warned that the negative use of the media can be dangerous to Ghana’s democracy. He urged the media to be the voice for the voiceless and help build, develop and sustain Ghana’s democracy
through the propagating of civic messages. The 2018 NCCE/EU Media Advocacy Workshop was under the theme “Strengthening Civic Consciousness through Media Advocacy”.
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