AFRICANEWS

GHANA

170 million murdered by Governments this Century

One reason why governments exist is the provision of protection to individual citizens. Strangely enough, researchers have established that this century alone, various governments have been responsible for the murder of 170 miilion of their own citizens and foreigners.

That governments have murdered about 170 million of their own citizens and foreigners this century was a revelation that most journalist found hard to come to terms with at a recent seminar in Accra, Ghana.

Even more depressing to the journalists who came from different African countries was the revelation that Africa was a major victim of this development.

Presenting a paper titled Pathological Dimensions of Ethnic Mobilisation In Africa and The Search For Alternative Political Futures, Dr Jibrin Ibrahim of the Department of Political Science, Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria, stated that "many political authorities have lost their traditional roles of providing security for their people and have actively participated in genocidal orgies. Nazi style destructive political pathology, characterised by excessively high levels of human destruction, has re-emerged with full force on different points of the globe."

"The legitimacy of the modern state is linked to its capacity to present itself as a provider of necessary public goods and more important, a neutral arbiter that guarantees the security of all sections of society," said Dr Ibrahim, adding that, "when the state is generally perceived as serving the particularistic interests of one group, it starts losing its legitimacy, and indeed, its authority".

The five-day seminar from November 25-29 was titled; Media: Conflict Resolution and Peace In Africa. It was sponsored by Panos Institute, a French Non- Governmental Organisation (NGO) which undertakes a host of activities, mainly environment-related, in Africa.

The principal object of the seminar was to support mass media in some of the countries currently engulfed in disintegrative, destructive social and political conflict, to intensify and improve coverage of the crises with the aim of promoting peace, unity and prevention of such conflicts in the future.

Other objectives of the symposium in the west African capital were to support media organisations to survive the conflicts, as well as protect media practitioners operating in such conditions.

Besides other participants, the seminar was designed to bring together two media practitioners each from Africa's crisis-ridden states of Liberia, Niger, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Burundi, Rwanda and Sudan. Others (one each) were invited from countries where there has been some relative resolution of conflict to exchange their experiences. Included in this category were journalists from Uganda, Chad, Mali and Senegal.

The seminar involved discussions led by notable experts on various issues and African contemporary conflict such as ethnicity, religious strife, military intervention and electoral politics.

There was also discussion of media coverage of conflict situations, led by experienced journalists as well as questions relating to media performance and experience under conflict situations provided by the journalist participants.

In his presentation, a career Ghanaian soldier and a former commander of the United Nations peace keeping force in the Middle East, Lieutenant General Emmanuel Erskine, observed that in the process of nation building, there are certain inevitable problems inherent in the evolution that most countries do go through. These problems, he noted, are inevitable because of the non- homogeneity of the people involved. The usual among them are the ethnic and religious rivalries and ideological incompatibilities, which in certain countries, do find expression in brutal civil wars. Countries that have faced such problems include Nigeria, Sudan, Rwanda and Burundi.

However, pointed out General Erskine, Africans and African governments in particular should always seek peaceful solutions to such problems as wars not only cause loss of lives but also destruction of property and a lot of suffering especially to women and children.

Other conflicts, said the General, were avoidable and preventable as they were often orchestrated or generated by certain individuals' inordinate political ambitions, resulting in violent take-over of constitutionally and democratically elected governments, and their subsequent mismanagement, poor governance, repression of fundamental human rights and total disregard for the rule of law, international norms and practices. "Violent overthrow of democratic civilian governments followed by tyrannical military regimes with dictatorial leaders, are some of the principal factors that cause internal divisions, confrontations that eventually express themselves in civil wars and political instability."

The seminar also had training sessions on advanced skills in editorial and other professional issues and challenges in media coverage of conflicts.

A lecturer at School of Communication Studies, University of Ghana, Dr Bonnah Koomson advised journalists to always adhere to the ethics of their profession. "Ethical standards are not formulated with any pre-conditions/circumstances. Rather, they are standards to be applicable at all times.

Dr Koomson observed that conflict situations brought with them their own peculiar challenges to journalists. "One notorious failing for journalists is how to deal with the truth. In many instances, the truth becomes a casualty, sacrificed on the altar of misinformation, exaggeration, propaganda and misrepresentation," he said.

"The smooth road to a permanent resolution of many crises is negotiation, not force or violence. Journalists, with their communication power are thus best placed to facilitate or impede a conflict or a negotiation process," observed Dr Koomson.

An Associate Professor of Sociology at University of Jos in Nigeria, Dr Pauline Otti, observed that the style of packaging news was important in producing the necessary impact and clarifying issues. "This is more so in the attempt to diffuse tension before conflict breaks out."

She pointed out that though journalists have to negotiate and satisfy the demands of sets of people- the editors, colleagues, sources and audience, as well as the ownership machinery, they must never ignore the voices of the less privileged including refugees and displaced families.

Other notable participants at the West African get together were Prof. Kwame Karikari of University of Ghana, Dr. Yao Graham of Third World Network, Dr. Hamidou Magassa, a Socio-Economic consultant in Bamako, Mali, Brigadier Francis Asiedu Agyemfra of Ghana, Mr. Millius Palayiwa of the London-based International Alert and Mr Yusuf Hassan of the United Nations High Commission for Refugees office in Pretoria, South Africa.

As a follow-up to the Accra deliberations, Panos plans to organise a similar symposium in the Great Lakes region of eastern Africa within the next six months. The seminar is expected to focus on the conflict situation in the Great Lakes region in particular and Africa in general.

Panos has also given an undertaking to seek funding to provide some support, by way of incentives and modest material assistance, for the journalists to cover issues pertaining to conflicts in their respective countries.

| CONTENTS | AFRICANEWS HOMEPAGE |

AFRICANEWS - Koinonia Media Centre, P.O. Box 8034, Nairobi, Kenya
tel/fax: 254.2.560385 - e-mail: [email protected]
AFRICANEWS on line is by Enrico Marcandalli