The National Media Commission (NMC) has condemned what it describes as
the growing spate of hate speech in the Ghanaian media.
In a statement signed by its Executive Secretary, Mr George Sarpong, the
commission said such inflammatory speeches had the potential of
fomenting violence.
It said the NMC’s monitoring and evaluation of some of those utterances
had led it to conclude that the peace, unity and stability of the
country were threatened.
“The NMC wishes to stress the need for circumspection and professional
judgement guided by the Code of Ethics of Journalism. The
commission expects all editors, presenters and talk-show hosts, as well
as commentators on radio programmes, to refrain from using language that
promotes ethnicity and division,” it said.
The statement said where in doubt, all journalists and media
practitioners should refer to the NMC’s content guidelines, especially
the ones for local language broadcasting.
Section 1.7 of the guideline provides that broadcasters “must not, under
any circumstance, carry content that can incite people”.
The NMC called on Parliament to speed up the passage of the revised
Broadcasting Bill which recognised the challenges of an expanded media
landscape and, therefore, proposed a series of measures to meet the
inherent challenges.
It said it believed that the new law would clean up the media landscape.
In a related development, the Ghana Trades Union Congress (TUC) has
called on the police to firmly and swiftly nip in the bud criminal acts
and lawlessness that have characterised the ongoing biometric voters
registration exercise.
Expressing concern over the reported violence, physical attacks, double
registration, the use of macho men and weapons, the registration of
minors and foreigners, the TUC urged the police to deal decisively with
such infractions of the law without fear or favour and irrespective of
the political affiliation of the perpetrators.
“The police in particular must not only act with professional
independence and efficiency in arresting those who breach the law and
put the peace of the country at risk but must be seen as acting in a
professional and unbiased manner,” the TUC said in a statement signed by
its Secretary-General, Mr Kofi Asamoah, and issued in Accra Tuesday.
It condemned the reported acts of lawlessness in the strongest possible
terms and stressed that it was urgent for the police to act swiftly to
deal with the situation before things got out of control and degenerated
into a breakdown of law and order.
It accused politicians and political parties of undermining the
electoral process by seeking to gain unfair advantage by the use of all
sorts of mechanisms, some manifestly criminal.
“For us workers of Ghana, this country is our only abode. We
have nowhere to run to in the event of civil strife and political
violence. This is why we shall not stand by unconcerned while
institutions expected to maintain law and order and keep the peace of
the land fail in their duties,” it indicated.
It called on political leaders, the parties, the government, the
Electoral Commission, the police and the courts to work assiduously to
avert the imminent danger.
For its part, the Ga Paramount Stool has asked the Member of Parliament
for Assin North, Kennedy Agyapong, to retract what it describes as
violent threats he made against people of Ga decent.
In a statement signed by the Stool Secretary, Niinabi Anyah
Tackie-Yarboi, it said the unguarded statement had the potential of
inciting Akans against Gas, especially when it was coming from a
lawmaker.
It said the timing of the utterance posed serious security challenges,
considering the fact that elections were due in less than 10 months.
“The stool regards this statement an affront to Gas, more especially
when Kennedy Agyapong has most of his properties, including the radio
station he made the remarks on, all on Ga lands,” it said.
Source: Daily Graphic
No comments:
Post a Comment