MFWA launches campaign on language monitoring project

Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) on Tuesday launched the Electoral Campaign Language Monitoring Project with a call on politicians and individuals to use decent language on the airwaves.

Professor Kwame Karikari, Executive Director of MFWA, said the project had selected 31 radio stations based in all the regional capitals that were non-partisan, independent, broadcasting in the major local languages and other factors for the monitoring.

He made the call during the launch of the project which would start on April 1, 2012 to February 29, 2013 in Accra.

“We will be monitoring radio stations to see how best these stations use languages to educate and inform the citizenry,” Prof Karikari said adding that the results of the monitoring would be made public to name and shame perpetuators of indecent language.

He called on the electorate to vote against any political party that continued to use foul language in their political activities be it on campaigns or during talk shows.

Mrs Charlotte Osei, Chairman of National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), said the success of this year’s elections was a choice that depended on the citizenry, adding that it was therefore, important to scientifically monitor and record the use of languages on the airwaves during the elections to check politics of insults that would undermine the peace of the country.

She said the appeals and complains against eliminating politics of insults among political figures and the public would only be complete if the results of the project were used to take drastic measures against media houses that might be found to have condoned any of such indecent languages.

Mrs Osei noted that the issue of politics of insults had given room to politicians to divert on pressing social issues affecting the nation, adding “we need to take measures to check this.”

Mr Bright Blewu, General Secretary of Ghana Journalists Association (GJA), said as part of efforts to control the politics of insults among the public, the association would from April organise weekly press conferences to help educate the citizenry on the risks involved in trading in foul languages to achieve a political goal.

He commended the Foundation for the initiative and pledged GJA’s support towards the project.

Alhaji Ahmed Ramadan, Chairman of People’s National Convention, said he was unhappy with the rate at which insults had gained grounds in the country saying such distasteful behaviour would not add any vote to the party’s success.**