Youth In Northern Region Vulnerable To Electoral Violence –REEWARG Warns

Rev. Dr. Solomon S. Saaka

The Northern Region Election Early Warning And Response Group (REEWARG), has warned that, some youth in the region have become more vulnerable to engaging in violence before, during and after the 2016 presidential and parliamentary elections.

According to REEWARG, such youth were secretly in sports, art and entertainment groups or clubs but unfortunately had conflict factional, religious and in particular, political affiliations and support that tend to increase tensions among them.

“They have engaged in intense competition over who is, or can become more powerful than the other especially in terms of who has a larger following it can incite to engage in violence this year”, Most Reverend Philip Naameh, Chairman of REEWARG and Catholic Archbishop of Tamale disclosed these in a statement read on his behalf by Rev. Dr. Solomon Sumani Sule Saaka at a media briefing held in Tamale.

According to Rev. Sule Saaka, REEWARG was worried that with the unresolved but simmering chieftaincy and land disputes in the region, the vulnerability of these youth could be exploited for violence in this electioneering period. “This is more so because there seems to be ready incentives for violence enticing these vulnerable youth”, he indicated.

He appealed to the youth to be “mindful that as much as their role and interest in politics and governance is encouraged they should ensure a peaceful environment in order to play those roles.

“For example, during this electioneering, the youth should rather ask the politicians critical questions on their manifestoes and plans, and question the attitudes of those with tendencies of violence –those who want to win by all means”, Rev. Sule Saaka suggested.

Turning his attention to the media, Rev. Sule Saaka also urged practitioners in the region to be circumspect in their reportage so as not to be a conduit that could be used to subvert the peace of the region and the country as a whole.

“As media, you should be reminded that without peace everything will come to a standstill. The media itself cannot operate in a disorganised environment. Experiences of other countries that suffered the effects of negative media reporting should constantly be keeping us in check that the role of the media is to inform, educate and entertain but not to inflame passions”, he observed.

Rev. Sule Saaka further observed that even though it was the responsibility of the media to report the truth it was highly professional to curtail the truth if that truth would cause mayhem or deaths.

“....Avoiding inflammatory language is very possible if you censor the messages of those who engage in intemperate language before letting it out to the public. I am not concluding that you should blacklist such “Troublesome politicians” from radio discussions but you can act professionally to prevent them from being self-centred in their quest for power to the detriment of peace and security in our communities and of the nation”  

The Executive Secretary of the Northern Regional Peace Council, Rev. Fr. Thaddeus Kuusah, also encouraged the media to engage in “conflict sensitive reporting” when reporting on conflict related issues by giving equal opportunities to parties involved in conflict to express their concerns. 

Rev. Fr. Thaddeus Kussah

“Sometimes when we hear conflicts being reported we have the impression that it is mainly on one side but what we can do is to try to get the two sides to begin to talk to address their issues of concern”, he said.

Rev. Fr. Kuusah also encouraged journalists reporting on conflicts to push parties involved further to prescribe their own solutions as well as highlight the commonalities or values that the parties shared.

“Avoid the use of words such as devastated, tragedy and terrorise to describe what has been done to one group. These kinds of words put the reporter on side. Do not use them yourself. Only quote someone else who uses these words”, he advised.

He emphasised that, aside quoting the leaders involved in the conflicts, journalists should also speak to other interest groups such as the people they lead to find out what their opinions of the issues causing the conflicts are.

Candidates’ Social Media Use Increase Ahead of December Polls – Report

Penplusbytes’ Governance Social Media Index (GSMI) tracks the relevance and effective use of social media in the governance space. The first index report was published in June 2016 and showed how key actors within the political and governance ecosystem of Ghana were engaging their electorates on social media as an alternative to traditional media.

The second edition of the SMI report assessed and ranked 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 as of 30th September, 2016.

According to 2^nd Governance Social Media Index report which has been released, President John Dramani Mahama, leads the pack of presidential candidates on Facebook with 1,007,595 likes which indicates an increase of 125,171 more likes from his June figure of 880,620.

The leader of the largest opposition party, Nana Akufo-Addo followed him closely with 981,057 likes on Facebook which also indicates an increase of 265, 341. These figures show that even though President Mahama has over 1 million Facebook followers, Nana Akufo-Addo increased his followers (265,341) as compared to President Mahama (125,175) in the last three months.

On twitter, there was a new addition and an interesting twist to that. Though the flagbearer of the National Democratic Party, Nana Konadu Agyemang Rawlings did not have an official twitter account as at the time of the first 1^st Index report in June 2016, her twitter account as at September 2016 had 493 followers which is relatively impressive compared to CPP’S Ivor Greenstreet who joined Twitter a year ago and as at September 2016 has 609 followers.

With regards to the political parties, the NPP continues to lead with 307,963 likes on Facebook followed by the PPP with 33,193 followers beating the NDC who are now third with 24,743 likes on Facebook.

The Flagbearer of the biggest opposition party, Nana Akufo Addo seems to be have taken a better advantage of Twitter to communicate and interact with his followers as evidenced in the over 4,000 tweets as compared with the President John Mahama’s 842 tweets.

Kwami Ahiabenu II

According to the Executive Director of Penplusbytes, Kwami Ahiabenu II, electoral campaigns have become more about social networking using the existing and emerging social media platforms than the conventional approach which emphasizes more of a one-way communication with limited chances to generate feedback.

“This index has shown that Ghanaian political parties and some election management bodies have increased their reliance on social media to engage their electorates, particularly ahead of the 2016 General Elections,” he said.

However, social media is driven largely by fast internet connectivity. There is therefore the need to improve internet services across the country for the effective use of social media for political communication among Ghanaians. 

Penplusbytes is a not-for-profit organization driving change through innovations in three key areas: using new digital technologies to enable good governance and accountability, new media and innovations, and driving oversight for effective utilisation of mining, oil and gas revenue and resources.

NCCE Director Blames Muslims, Chiefs For Child Marriages In Northern Region

Alhaji Abdul-Razak Saani

Early child marriage and sexual violence against young girls are very prevalent in the Northern Region of Ghana, with many girls in their early teens constantly dropping out of school before completing junior or senior high school.

These issues, according to various surveys conducted by notable local and international organisations, are as a result of negative cultural practices, religious beliefs, poverty, peer pressure, illiteracy and parental irresponsibility.

But the Northern Regional Director of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) Alhaji Abdul-Razak Saani, has blamed the issues of early child marriage and sexual violence against girls squarely on Muslims, chiefs and parents.

Contributing to a discussion at a stakeholders meeting organised by Songtaba in Tamale, he said issues of child marriage emanated from within families who always consented to such marriages.

“.....some parents are adversaries...they wouldn’t like it. Some chiefs...we have had situations where some chiefs have married children...chiefs who are even educated...chiefs who have a lot at stake. 

“The other adversaries we have to talk about is the misinterpretation of religion...very bad. Unfortunately, it is the Muslims who perpetrate it. The Christians don’t do that. All these crimes, crimes is perpetrated by the Muslims....” Alhaji Saani stated.

The NCCE Director cited Nakpaa, a village in the Nanumba North District where a child could go to school and return home with a child bride. Retrogression in children’s education, he observed, was a factor demotivating many of them from staying in school but rather choose to drop out to marry. 

He also chided District Assemblies in the region for reneging on their responsibilities towards the development of citizens especially children, and charged them to consider critical needs of children in their development plans.

There are dangers associated with early child marriage and sexual abuse against girls but largely unknown to victims and perpetrators of such acts. Some of these dangers are sexually transmitted infections including HIV, psychological trauma and miscarriage due to immature womb or rapture of the womb during delivery. 

Besides, there is a high risk of such girls suffering fistula due to their inability to endure labour pains and push hard for their babies to come out during.   

The Northern Regional Coordinator of the Domestic Violence and Victims Support Unit (DoVVSU), ASP Emmanuel Holortu, also blamed traditional authorities and politicians for being part of the reasons why early child marriage and sexual abuse were still prevalent in the region.

He proposed that, whereas it was important to address challenges associated with early child marriage and sexual abuse, girls who were still virgins in communities noted for the abuse of girls should also be identified and celebrated as a way of setting standard for other girls to emulate.   

ASP Emmanuel Holortu

To put an end to the phenomena of early child marriage and sexual abuse against girls, Plan International Ghana in collaboration with Songtaba, is implementing a five (5) year project that aims at addressing their root causes.

Dubbed: “Girls Advocacy Alliance” (GAA), the project which is spanning July 2016 to December 2020 is being rolled out in the Upper West, Northern, Eastern and Greater Accra Regions of Ghana. 

In the Northern Region, GAA is being implemented in 40 communities in the Nanumba, Saboba, Gusheigu and Sagnarigu Districts in the Northern Region. 

The Executive Director of Songtaba, Ms. Lamnatu Adam, said the project would focus on child marriage, sexual violence and abuse, commercial sexual exploitation of children and child sex tourism as well as access to TVET and decent employment opportunities for girls and young women.

She noted that, by the end of the 5years, child marriage, sexual violence and abuse against children as well as commercial sexual exploitation would have reduced. 

Girls and young women, Ms. Adam explained, would have increased access to Technical and Vocational Education Training (TVET) and to decent work opportunities.

Meanwhile, other stakeholders at the meeting advocated for strict enforcement of the domestic violence law, children’s law and other criminal codes in order to end the canker of early child marriage and sexual abuse against girls which were spiralling out of controlling.