Fatimatu Abubakar, Minister for Information, has urged professionalism as journalists prepare to cover the 2024 Presidential and Parliamentary elections on Saturday, December 7.

Speaking to the Ghana News Agency, ahead of the major polls, she urged media practitioners to refrain from perpetuating falsehood or inciting violence through inaccurate reportage and fake news.

She noted that ensuring a peaceful election and sustaining the country’s democracy was a collective responsibility and the media must play its part without sensationalism.

“The [reports] should not be based on inducement or anything…or inserting yourself because of your personal, political, parochial interests and saying because this is where I think the election should go, let me incite, let me embellish, let me lie…,” she explained.

“We should also not perpetrate falsehood, so that the stories will be sweeter for our political party and sour for the other political party….That, we should not do!” she emphasised.

Ms Abubakar also called on politicians to mind their utterances and “do what is expected of them legally” during the electoral process.

“For us politicians, I think it’s only about the quality of your argument and not to go and insult somebody, to incite violence or anything of that sort…I won’t do it, and I can’t tell anybody to do it…Yours is to make sure your agents are vigilant and they are policing the process…” she added.

The Information Minister expressed satisfaction at the 2024 election campaign which, she said, had become “more issue-based” than in previous years.

“These days it is a contest of ideas. People are raising arguments and trying their best to come up with policies that resonate with people. And I am excited that as we deal with more dialogue and less violence, our democracy is progressing,” she observed.

Ms Abubakar urged citizens to cast their ballot on Election Day and expect the mandated electoral body to ensure free and fair election.

“I’m excited that on Saturday, we’re all going to vote and trust the Electoral Commission, as created by the Constitution, and all the robust mechanisms put in place will deliver a free and fair election….At the end of the day, there will always be a President for Ghana, and there will be peace and cohesion,” she stated.