By Dickens Wasonga.
A Kisumu based Non Governmental Organization has embarked on training of local journalists on how best to use media coverage as a means to secure fair and peaceful election ahead of the March 2013 general elections.
Local Capacities for Peace International LCPI which is funded by UKAID targets to train over 100 journalists based in Kisumu City in a bid aimed at ensuring the lake side City which was rocked by post election violence that saw many people lose their lives and several others displaced does not go through the same orgy of violence it witnessed in 2008.
Speaking during a one day workshop organized for the scribes at a Kisumu hotel the LCPI project officer Ms Rosemary Onunga said failure by the media to censure some of the statements made at political rallies to drum up support for various presidential candidate in the last elections by some leaders was partly the reason for the election related violence that rocked the nation in 2008.
Onunga called on those covering election to ensure materials that can whip up tribal animosity or constitute hate speech are not aired or published by media houses as a way of stopping rogue politicians from inciting people to engage in acts of violence.
The officers observed that although journalists are part of the society they work in, most organizations sideline them in efforts to bring peace and only invite reporters to their functions as away of transmitting what they have to say to the public.
” This approach is wrong because news men are part and parcel of the communities they live and work in and they should be fully involved in peace building initiatives throughout just like we do with other stakeholders;” she pointed out.
Its generally believed by most Kenyans that the media especially the vernacular radio stations and a section of the print media together with the electronic were reckless in the manner in which they covered events leading to and after the 2008 election whose results were disputed.
She said her organization was willing to sponsor journalists to do stories that will enhance peace initiatives in the region adding that apart from the media practitioners LCPI was already engaging with various security agencies in Kisumu and local political leadership to discuss how peaceful campaigns and electrons can be secured.
Kisumu has lately been in the news for the wrong reasons. Not long ago groups operating like those proscribed by the government were locked in a bitter war of supremacy which saw a number of their members hunted and arrested by the police.
And last week a prominent politician cum businessman Onyango Kwega was gunned down by three armed criminals an incident that sparked immediate protests throughout the City that left business and transport paralyzed for days.
Already there is fear amongst the City residents and the business community that if not checked violence is likely to rock the area as polls approaches with non confirmed reports indicating that some people are believed be considering or relocating for fear of the chaos .
ENDS