‘Political parties setting pace for discourses unhealthy for devt’

The Dean of Graduate Studies of the Catholic University College of Ghana (CUCG), Reverend Father Professor Nkrumah Amponsah, has cautioned that allowing political parties to set the pace for discourses is unhealthy for the nation’s progress, growth and development.

He expressed discomfort that the media had gradually swayed from its agenda-setting role and reiterated that the 1992 Constitution placed responsibility on the media to remain neutral and check successive governments against abuse of political power as well as put a spotlight on the nation’s progress, growth and development agenda.

“Iam hopeful the media re-focus, adhere to high ethical standards, professionalism, highlight development, promote peace, unity, harmony and social cohesion, which are ingredients required to facilitate accelerated national growth and development,” Rev Fr Prof. Amponsah pointed out.

He was disgusted and dismayed about “needless abuse of the media”, thereby, threatening the nation’s democracy and press freedom and described the situation as “digital form of political vigilantism”.

Rev. FrProf. Amponsah, regretted that the media space was currently unhealthy, polluted with outright lies, and deception, which remained an affront to democratic governance and press freedom guaranteed by the 1992 Constitution.

“The uncontrolled verbal attacks and assaults in the nation’s media environment dirtied the beauty of democracy, press freedom, framers of the Vigilantism and Related Offences Act (999), 2019, which outlawed the formation of political party vigilante groups and acts of vigilantism did not give space to tackle digitised vigilantism in the media environment.

“It has paved the way, and provided a conspicuous platform for political parties and their followers, thereby, leveraging on the nation’s limited media resources and frequencies for all sorts of digitised vigilantism,” Rev. Fr Prof. Amponsah bemoaned.

He advised that it was better as a country tried as much as possible to maximise the use of limited media resources and frequencies for the purposes of progress, growth and development, instead of peddling outright falsehood, propaganda and deception particularly, in the digital media space. -GNA