Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has conducted training for officials of civil society organisations (CSOs) and journalists in The Gambia.

The training, Development Diaries gathered, focused on promoting participatory democracy in The Gambia as the West African country prepares for the December 2021 presidential election.

The training was meant to ensure journalists and CSOs are equipped with information about their role in promoting participatory democracy in the country.

Head of Division Democracy and Good Governance Department of Political Affairs, Peace and Regional Security of ECOWAS, Emmanuel Okorodudu, said CSOs should engage other local organisations at the grassroots and educate them on the importance of peaceful election.

‘Elections come and go, but the people stay. So, it is the people who should make sure that there is peace during and after elections’, Okorodudu said.

Vice President of The Gambia Press Union (GPU), Muhammed Bah, who commended ECOWAS for conducting the training, said, ‘Journalists are expected to feed the public with accurate and reliable information and in doing so, journalists should fact check and process information before spreading or broadcasting it.

‘Elections’ reporting is different from other news articles as it can lead to violence if the reports are not accurate’.

Source: Foroyaa

Photo source: Jerome Delay/AP