Kwami Ahiabenu,II Knowledge Chief

The Media Council of Tanzania (MCT) will run training on election reporting for print-media journalists in the country between now and early August, this year. The MCT Manager for Publications, Research and Documentation, John Mireny said a total of 230 journalists will be trained under the programme supported by the UNDP Election Project Support (EPS) for Tanzania for the 2010 general elections. Nine trainers who will conduct the election reporting training began a five-day Training of Trainers (TOT) course at the MCT headquarters in Dar es Salaam on July 12. Two facilitators – one Tanzanian Fili Karashani of Tanzania Press Centre and a Ghanaian - Kwami Ahiabenu,II   a consultant at  African Election Project,  are running the course attended by editors and senior editors drawn from a number of media  houses and media training centres. According to the MCT Executive Secretary, Kajubi Mukajanga, the course is intended to hone the professional skills of the journalists in covering  the...

Participating in ICT for Civic Engagement in Nigeria taking place in Abuja from July 19th to 20th Nigerians, and indeed the world, are collectively holding their breath in anticipation of the 2011 presidential election. Indeed this election's importance to the citizens of Nigeria and the good functioning of the government cannot be overstated. And no longer is there doubt as to the tremendous promise – and associated risks – of using information and communication technologies to enhance the effectiveness of both electoral activities and new approaches to reform, monitoring, and civic participation in the democratic process. This upcoming symposium and workshop emerged from a July 2009 conference in which diverse non-governmental organizations (NGOs) made plain the requirements of robust state accountability and transparency for civil society to succeed with its missions – and the concomitant potential of ICTs to support these goals of participatory, inclusive and delibe...

Yamoussoukro, Abidjan, Conakry, Nairobi, Dar Es Salaam,Lagos, Abuja