The Institute of Public Relations (IPR) Ghana has challenged its student chapters to develop ethical communication strategies for political parties ahead of the upcoming general elections. 

Speaking at a competition for the student chapters as part of their 50th anniversary celebrations, the President of IPR- Ghana, Esther Cobbah highlighted the value of PR in promoting a peaceful election and contributing to national development.

“We are focusing on using PR to create value for the nation; and what more can be valuable for Ghana today than a peaceful election?” she said.

The competition, dubbed “Students’ Time” was held last Thursday at the Juniors Common Room (JCR) of the University of Media Arts and Communication - Institute of Journalism (UniMAC-IJ) under the auspices of the Faculty of Public Relations, Advertising, and Marketing (FOPAM).

Discussing the theme for the celebration; “PR for Value Creation”, Ms. Cobbah called on students to continuously add value by availing themselves to apply the knowledge from the classroom through volunteering.

She added that IPR Ghana is committed to nurturing the next generation of ethical PR professionals who will contribute their quota to national development.

Pitch competition

To mark the occasion, Public Relations students from UNIMAC-IJ and their colleagues from the University for Professional Studies (UPSA), Accra, pitched PR strategies aimed at encouraging political parties in Ghana to engage in ethical communications for peaceful elections.

Meanwhile, on the part of students, it is to inspire strategic thinking.

The students of UniMAC-IJ presented a campaign titled 'Truth for Tomorrow' with the theme "Dwen Hwɛ Kan"; to wit, “Think and Look Ahead”.

It called on politicians and political communicators to consider the impact of their words and actions during any form of communication to promote peace and responsible political communication discourse.

As part of the program, the UniMAC-IJ students' chapter of the IPR-Ghana, led by James Oracca-Tetteh, a level 300 PR student, was officially inaugurated

Leading the charge for their institutions were Amanda Amamu and Daniel Anane Afari for UniMAC-IJ, while Nicholas Sarpong and Muniru Nashira represented UPSA.

They were presented with certificates of participation.