By Amos Tauna
Ten Journalists from selected media houses in Ghana are currently undergoing a 10-day intensive training to report on transparency and accountability in the oil and gas sector. The training started from 24th September till the 3rd of October 2017.
According to the Executive Director of Penplusbytes, Kwami Ahiabenu II, the project is aimed at increasing transparency and accountability in the sector through effective public oversight on oil and gas revenue management and the media plays a leading role in making this possible.
“The oil and gas sector is often perceived as a very technical sector but this can only be debunked if the media simplifies and gives prominence to the sector issues. Penplusbytes, with its years of experience in media training is poised to deliver this training to reflect our key goal of promoting good governance”, he added.
“By the end of the project, it is expected that oil and gas issues will become a headline topic in the media landscape and journalists will be at the forefront of providing relevant content for civil society and citizens to hold duty bearers to account in the advocacy towards good governance in the sector transparency, accountability and good governance over the oil and gas sector revenue would have increased for the development of Ghana,” he explained.
He added that Penplusbytes with support from Ghana Oil and Gas for Inclusive Growth (GOGIG), the training forms part of activities under the 6-month “Enhancing the role of the Media in promoting Oil and Gas sector transparency and accountability” project Penplusbytes is implementing.
He noted that a significant portion of Ghana’s budget is funded by proceeds from the oil and gas sector, hence the need for Ghanaian media to constantly demand transparency and accountability in the oil and gas sector.
The training programme, according to him, is designed to provide a holistic and comprehensive support to the selected journalists through specialized knowledge and skills on professional mentoring; field trips; innovative use and application of data journalism skills; access to sources and vital information.
Part of the training activities is power reporting series and networking session which would bring together peers, experts, policy makers, and oversight actors in the oil and gas sector to interact and network with the selected journalists.
The journalists on training would be provided bursaries to undertake individual field trips to oil and gas funded projects to generate impactful stories aimed at promoting transparency and accountability in the sector.