Ghana EC unhappy with media reports on Election 2012

The Electoral Commission (EC) on Tuesday expressed misgivings about media reports on Election 2012 and appealed to journalists to always seek election information from the Commission.

It said the District Assembly Elections was scheduled for March 3, and appealed to the media to support by intensifying electoral education to help increase voter turnout.

Mr George Gyabaah, the Brong –Ahafo Regional Director of the EC, who was addressing some journalists at a workshop at Abesim, near Sunyani, regretted that some media organizations nearly created chaos by their ill-informed comments about the electoral processes in Election 2012.

The workshop, improving the quality of information in the electoral process, organized by the Commission, with support from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) was on the theme “enhancing participation and stakeholder confidence in Ghana’s electoral process”.

“The weak side of the media needs to be addressed before the local and general elections in 2015 and 2016”, Mr Gyabaah stressed, but commended some media organizations and individual journalists for their satisfactory performance in the 2012 general election.

He said the government was poised to bring governance to the door steps of the people that necessitated the introduction of the District Assembly Elections to give the people opportunity to choose their representatives at the electoral area and unit levels.

Mr Gyabaah said conducting district assembly elections was a collective and shared responsibility and appealed to the general public to participate.

Mr John Sam-Arthur, Assistant Manager in-charge of News at the Brong-Ahafo Office of the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) who was a facilitator, emphasized the need for the media to play their gateway role in a more responsive manner devoid of diabolic intentions.

He asked media organizations and individual practitioners to ensure that they discharge their duties in tandem with the ethics of the Journalism profession.

Mr Sam-Arthur called on the government to adequately resource the Commission, especially in the area of transportation to enable it reach out to the various polling stations.

Source: GNA