The Advertising Association of Ghana is to engage the Electoral Commission (EC) to help develop campaign adverts that will not compromise the country’s unity and peace in the 2012 elections. To that effect, the association has sent proposals to the EC for the two bodies to meet to correct what it described as “the wrongs of the past”. It is also appealing to relevant state agencies to help push the passage of the Advertising Council Bill, which is currently at the draft stage. The Bill, when passed, will among other things determine who advertising practitioners are and regulate and control the advertising practice subject to the approval of Minister of Health, where the advertisement relates to matters of food, cosmetics, beverages and drugs. These were the highlights of a meeting between the Minister of Information, Mr Fritz Baffour and the Executive Council of the AAG, when the advertisers paid a courtesy call on the minister to formally welcome him to office. The minister was approved by Parliament and sworn into office by President Mills last week, following a recent Cabinet reshuffle. The meeting was also for the advertisers to lay their concerns varying from the need for an effective law to regulate advertising in the country to the role advertising could play to reduce the negative political campaign messages that has characterised the country’s electioneering. In his remarks, Mr Joel Nettey, Vice-President of the association, said the cluttered nature of players in the advertising sector called for an umbrella body which would set standards for the advertising industry in the country. He observed that it was good to have codes of ethics but that was not enough, as it was voluntary. If people in the industry do not conform to them, “we find that our institutions or associations find it difficult to deal with those who breach such ethics”. With the nation gearing for the 2012 elections, one of the fears that have been concerns by many including the Vice-President , John Dramani Mahama, has been the need to avoid insulting language. As its contribution towards minimising the insults during the campaign period, Mr Nettey said the association would bring all the parties to set the tone for the use of decent language. “This is our contribution to peace in Ghana during and after the elections”. He also appealed to the minister to help secure a permanent secretariat for the association, adding that the association was asked in the past to identify a place for the secretariat, which it found in an old building at the Information Services Department, close to the offices of TV3 in Accra. He also appealed to the government to use local expertise in the advertising in Ghana in its programmes and activities. Prof. Tim Acquah-Hayford, a former President of the association, added his voice for the need for an effective regulatory law and body to bring sanity into the industry. “The AAG, he said, had not been happy with the nasty things flying around as there was no regulatory body in the country to ensure effective monitoring of the industry. He said the AAG was committed to ensuring that the 2012 elections was free of nasty scenes as had been the case in some parts of the country in the past. Contributing to the discussions, Mr Francis Dadzie, the Executive Director of the AAG, said the passage of the bill was very important because it would not only help streamline advertising in the country, but would also help to safeguard children and consumers from falling prey to false advertisement. Reacting to the concerns and needs of the association, Mr Baffuor said he shared the sentiments of the association, saying, “There is confusion in the advertising industry. It, therefore, makes common sense to regulate it”. He said to strengthen the case for the advertising industry, there was the need for the sector to engage all stakeholders as the problem with regulation was not to do anything that would go against the constitution. Advertising is also about freedom of speech and expression”. The Information Minister, who said he covered and witnessed the Liberian civil and Rwandan genocide, said there was the need to continue preaching peace in the country as the election approached. “We have to be careful not to go that way. Insults in politics does not achieve anything,” he stated. He, however, called on the AAG to engage the public, saying, “your mandate is to use your position to ensure that the people on the street for instance appreciate their rights and responsibilities.” He pledged the ministry’s commitment to ensuring that the advertising industry was positioned to meet the needs of Ghanaians.