Kwami Ahiabenu,II Knowledge Chief

The cover page of the Governance Social Media Index. Penplusbytes has released the  second edition of the Governance Social Media Index (GSMI) report , which assesses and ranks the presence of political parties, political party leaders and key election management bodies in Ghana on social media based on their followers and level of engagement on Facebook and Twitter. Generally, the report shows that political actors in Ghana have increased their use of social media ahead of the 2016 general elections. The flurry of politically minded social media activity hadn't gone unnoticed, even before Penplusbytes's report. Ghana's Inspector General of Police John Kudalor hinted in May 2016 that Ghanaian authorities might consider  shutting down social media platforms  during the December 7 elections to "maintain peace". Following a public debate among major stakeholders after his statement, Ghanaian President John Dramani Mahama  declared  on August 14 that "the governm

A 14-day media training course on governance of oil, gas and mining has opened in Dar res Salaam, capital of Tanzania in the Eastern part of Africa. Sponsored by the Natural Resource Governance Institute (NRGI), a Non Governmental Organisation, the training is being organized by the Journalist Environmental Association of Tanzania (JET) in partnership with  Penplusbytes   Ghana and the African Center for Media Excellence in Uganda. Being attended by 24 selected participants – eight each from Tanzania, Uganda and Ghana, the course is aimed at building the capacity of the reporters to enable them tell the true story in the extractive industry particularly oil, gas and mining and get themselves abreast with trending and contemporary situation in the sector. Mr George Lugalambi, the Media Capacity Development Officer of the NRGI, said the course also offers opportunity for participants to establish relationships and share ideas and divergent views in the extractive sector. He said although