A simulated political party, National Socialist Congress (NSC), has been adjudged the winner of this year's Political Communication competition organised by the Ghana Institute of Journalism (GIJ).

The event took place at the forecourt of the Institute's Ringway Campus on Saturday, June 11.

Flagbearer for the National Socialist Congress, Philip Opare Israel Junior, in an interview with Myjoyonline.com explained how he has benefited from the competition.

"This competition has really thought me a great deal about how to communicate to the public and how to strategise for an election and how to mediatise our content and how to set agenda in a political environment.

“I think that I am a great beneficiary of this Political Communication competition and it doesn't end here. The knowledge that I have got I will make sure it translates to the political activities that I will be doing on campus," he said.

As part of the School’s level 300 political communication course, all level 300 students were mandated to form simulated political parties.

The simulated political parties engaged in activities including; launching party, electing executives, flagbearers and running mates and practically applying the political communication strategies taught in class.

The competition was then climaxed with rallies from various parties and a debate by all flagbearers and running mates of the various parties on Saturday, June 11.

Broadcast journalist and Head of JoyNews’ Political Desk, Evans Mensah, the Head of Business Desk at Media General Limited, Alfred Ocansey, and Dr Abena Yeboah, a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Communication at the University of Ghana were the judges for the competition.

Other guests present at the event were Head of Journalism Department at GIJ, Dr James Asante; Political Communication lecturer, Dr Kobby Mensah; former Head of Communication Department who doubles as lecturer for the course, Dr Lawrencia Agyepong and the Executive Director for Institute of Democratic Governance (IDEG), Dr Emmanuel Akwetey.

The simulated political parties comprised of the Pragmatic Development Party, United People's Party, Neo Development Party, Democratic Socialist Party and the Liberal Democratic Party.

The others were the National Socialist Congress, True Democratic Alliance, Liberal Socialist Party, Socialist Development Party and Unified Democratic Party.

The Pragmatic Development Party and the Liberal Democratic Party were the 1st and 2nd runners-up, respectively.

The competition was first organised in 2020 and has since been a yearly event for students, with this year’s being the third edition.