By Norah Musega
Kenya National Commission for UNESCO (KNATCOM) in partnership with Rongo University conducted a four day training exercise for students and media practitioners drawn from local radio stations on the role of media in peace building.
Rongo University Vice Chancellor Prof Samuel Gudu urged journalists to spread messages of peace especially at a time when the general elections are approaching.
He stressed on the fact that in order to achieve peaceful coexistence in a society, it is important to understand the causes and consequences of violence.
‘It is also important to involve students of higher learning institutions in such trainings because they are usually the most affected during political seasons as most politicians tend to take advantage of them to cause violence.’ Said Gudu.
He urged youths to be at the forefront of spreading the gospel of peace in the country arguing that the economy gets affected negatively when violence erupts.
He also asked the journalists present at the training exercise to focus on doing stories that promote peace instead of those which result into conflict among different ethnic groups.
‘The freedom of speech and opinion is stipulated in the 2010 Constitution. In line with that, we should learn to respect other people’s opinions even if we do not agree with them. However, we should use the freedom wisely so as not to cause tension or violence,’ he stressed.
Angela Silima, a representative of UNESCO, said that capacity building is an exercise meant to help people understand how to prevent election violence as is the vision of KNATCOM.
‘We held this workshop to promote peace ahead of the 2022 general elections. We do not want a repeat of what happened after the 2007 general elections. The media have the power to shape the society through agenda setting in their publications.” Said Silima.
She challenged citizens to always promote peace by engaging in the electoral process cautiously and peacefully.
