The Greater Accra Regional Director of the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), Mawuli Agbenu, has advised students in the country to beware of information they send for public consumption in order not to create disaffection in the country.
“If you are not sure of the information you send out for public consumption, you are likely to send misinformation, disinformation, hate speech and mull information. By so doing, you are creating problems for the country and in Ghana, we don’t want to get there because of the negative repercussions of such information.
We know that several wars began all over the world because of misinformation, disinformation, hate speech and mull information.
We are aware of what hate speech can cause. We know that in Rwanda for instance, it was on the radio that someone referred to another ethnic group as cockroaches which is a clear example of hate speech which led to the war there. We must, therefore, be cautious of the kind of information we send out into the public space,” Mr Agbenu cautioned.
The Greater Accra NCCE regional director made the remarks at an NCCE public education forum organised for students of the Ashaiman Technical Institute.
The forum, which was in collaboration with the French Embassy, was on the theme: “Well informed citizens for election 2024: A civic education initiative on combating misinformation, disinformation and hate speech.”
Mr Agbenu explained that the programme should have taken place before the December 2024 election, but it was not possible because of numerous engagements with the general public during the elections. He, however, said it was still necessary to curb post-election violence and other tensions.
He further explained that the essence of the programme was to ensure that citizens were well informed so they did not fall into the trap of misinformation, disinformation and hate speech, adding, “We believe that when we catch them young with the message, they will stay with it and will not depart from it.
We are engaging schools to ensure that they are aware of the phenomenon of misinformation, disinformation, hate speech and mull information so that they don’t fall into that trap and ensure that they spread useful information that will bring about development that will bring about unity.
“Students must be very, very careful about what they say, what they believe and the information they access,” he emphasised.
Mr Agbenu said misinformation, disinformation, hate speech and mull information, created mistrust among the populace and advised the students to ensure they verified and researched information they accessed with evidence before spreading it.
He urged the students to share the education they had received on the topic with their peers, parents and relatives in their various communities for them to also know the effect of such actions of misinformation, disinformation and hate speech.
The Ashaiman Municipal Director of the NCCE, Savalta Mawulorm Korku, said the NCCE as an institution has civic clubs which teach students their rights and responsibilities. She, therefore, entreated the authorities of the school to form civic clubs as they have many benefits.
A teacher at the school, Daniel Boateng, described the programme as timely after the just-ended election.
Two students who spoke with the Daily Graphic, Joshua Siaw Djangma and Matilda Titriku, remarked that they learnt a lot from the programme, as hitherto they misinformed and disinformed ignorantly.
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