Skip to main content

USING THE VIRTUAL PUBLIC SPACE FOR THE 2020 ELECTIONEERING CAMPAIGN


Like other countries Ghana has been adversely affected by COVID 19. The country recorded its first case on 13th March 2020 and since then cases have been on the increase, surpassing 17,000 as at 29th June 2020. More distressing is the fact there is no vaccine for the virus and it is expected to take over a year for some to be produced. This makes a very complicated case and the health of the population has to be prioritized and protected. The government has subsequently imposed limited restrictions on all forms of public gathering. Meanwhile Ghana’s eighth presidential and parliamentary elections is scheduled to take place in December 2020, about five months away. Under the current COVID-19 conditions, it is likely that campaigning through large political rallies will shift to campaigning through the use of virtual media; radio, TV, webinars, and social media. Political parties and election candidates will now rely extensively on electronic media; both traditional and social media to carry their messages across to the voting public. 

 Against this backdrop, the IDEG is holding a forum on “Using the Virtual Public Space for the 2020 Electioneering Campaign” on Wednesday, July 8, 2020 from 10am – 12pm. The main of objective of the virtual forum is to promote responsible virtual election campaigning towards achieving peaceful elections with credible outcomes in the face of the restrictions imposed by COVID-19. 

 The specific objectives are: 
(i) to discuss the urgent necessity of adopting an effective regulatory regime for electioneering campaign through the virtual space under COVID-19 conditions; (ii) to propose various ways in which parties and election candidates can adapt to and comply with regulations of campaigns in the virtual space. 
Moderator Mr Kwesi Jonah, Snr Research Fellow, IDEG 

 Speakers
 • Mr Kwami Ahiabenu, II Tech Innovations Expert and Founder, Penplusbytes 
• Mr George Sarpong, Executive Secretary, National Media Commission 
• Mr Sulemana Braimah, Executive Director, Media Foundation for West Africa

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Vincent Chukwuemeka Ike's The Potter's Wheel

Currently reading Chukwuemeka Ike's The Potter's Wheel very interesting paper pack written by a prolific Nigeria writer the story set during the second World War and the only means of modern entertainment was the The Mobile Cinema Van. the book is very rich is proverbs and a lot of wise words The main character is Obuechina Maduabuchi ( mouthful) who happened to be the only boy born to his parents Mama Obu( short form of Obuechina) and Papa Lazarus Maduabuchi among six older sisters. Due to the "value" placed on the male child, he become a totaly spoilt brat, though academically brilliam Obu was growing into a hopelessly spoilt child to reverse this trend, Papa Lazarus decided to send him away as a servant to a schoolmasster with a dragon of a wife Of course, Obu goes and comes back very different published by University Press PLC Ibadan Nigeria 1993 email address is unipress AT skannet.com.gh though first published by Harvill Press 1973 ISBN 9780302832 WORDS FROM TH...
4 comments
Read more

Evidence : Success of Connecting Citizens to Parliament Project by @penplusbytes

"The Committee on Government Assurances was established to play an oversight role of the Executive arm of government in Ghana. We were faced with the challenge of interacting effectively with citizens and getting their valuable feedback on project delivery statuses. You can understand our excitement when we started the Connecting Citizens to Parliament Project in partnership with Penplusbytes to implement an innovative mechanism of connecting citizens to Parliament, using new digital technologies including SMS, an online portal, a Mobile App and WhatsApp. Our work was more efficient as, for the first time ever, we had a dedicated website on which citizens could report on projects within their communities and reach out to us via an integrated media system about other governance issues that they had concerns with. The project also equipped our committee members with technology, information and knowledge management skills. We call on all stakeholders to support us, sustain the succes...
Post a Comment
Read more

African Media To Promote Geospatial Science

The United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA) has established a forum aimed at enhancing the capacity of the media in the promotion, advocacy and awareness-creation of Geospatial Information Science (GIS) on the African continent. Geospatial Information Science refers to the technology used for the measurement, analysis and visualisation of features or spatial phenomenon occurrences. For instance, in the mining and oil sector, resources on the earth's surface require sophisticated technology to discover, extract and manage and since mining and   drilling of oil require accurate knowledge of the earth's surface and subsurface.   Geospatial technology is best suited for the exploration and extraction of mineral deposits. Again, projects such as roads and waterways require geospatial technologies for planning, construction and implementation. According to the UNECA, GIS and related disciplines are now commonly found as the drivi...
Post a Comment
Read more