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Penplusbytes Trains First Set of NCCE Officers on Election Disinformation Ahead of Dec 7 Polls

NCCE Training

Penplusbytes as part of its “MIL in Elections Campaign” has trained the first batch of 30 officers from the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE) on the importance of media and information literacy in elections.

Participants for the first training, which took place at the TUC conference hall in Accra, came from some NCCE districts in the Greater Accra region including Ablekuma West, Korle Klottey, Ayawaso West, Krowor, La Dade-Kotopon, Accra Metro, Okaikwei North, Ledzokuku, Ablekuma North, Ayawaso North, Ashiedu Keteke, Ayawaso Central, Ayawaso East, Ablekuma Central and the Greater Accra Regional office.

The officers were trained on why media and information literacy is important, why the need to be critical about consuming media content, and how to recognise and combat election disinformation and misinformation; and then they were equipped with the necessary tools to disseminate accurate information to the public.

Similar trainings for the NCCE officers will be taking place in four other selected regions across the country and is targeting 150 officers in total. According to programme lead at Penplusbytes, Precious Ankomah, the initiative seeks to be highly impactful. “We are hoping that at the end of it all, the trained officers will be able to cascade learning to their office and the general public, which will lead to increased digital literacy levels among the population and more importantly, enhance the capacity of NCCE offices to deliver accurate messaging to combat false information before, during and after the elections,” she said.

Feedback from the first batch of trainees reiterated the need for such a training for the NCCE particularly at this time in the elections calendar. Another participant also added that “it is a good project that should be encouraged and promoted as it would be of great help to all Ghanaians.”

The MIL in Elections Campaign forms part of Penplusbytes’ activities for the 2024 MIL project year which aims to reach new target audiences and new regions of the country with media and information literacy (MIL) education as the country prepares for its general elections in December 2024. It is being implemented with support from DW Akademie and in partnership with the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE).

The National Commission for Civic Education is an independent, non-partisan governance institution set up to promote and sustain democracy and inculcate in the Ghanaian citizenry, the awareness of their rights and obligations, through civic education. The Commission has sixteen (16) Regional Offices headed by Regional Directors who coordinate the Commission’s work in 268 District offices across the country.