Apart from educating and entertaining the public, the media plays a pivotal role in shaping and influencing behaviors and attitudes, shaping public opinion over a given subject and is a critical tool as well in setting the agenda for the public on any given topic, including cultivating a culture of peace and religious tolerance between people of different religious backgrounds.
Developing the capacity and the culture of accepting religious pluralism among religious people, Africa being a religious continent, is central to PROCMURA’s work, and PROCMURA has, for more than sixty-four years now, been employing various avenues and platforms that help in achieving that goal, the media included.
For several years now, PROCMURA has engaged in a rigorous and guided media sensitization and public awareness campaign on the need and importance of promoting and protecting the concept of Freedom of Religion or Belief across various African countries.
More recently, PROCMURA hosted various stakeholders for a radio talk show on Radio Veritas 102.9 FM on strengthening religious tolerance and peaceful coexistence in The Gambia in line with promoting and protecting the Freedom of Religion or Belief (FoRB). The Gambia, a country in West Africa, is known for its diverse religious landscape, with Islam being the majority religion, followed by Christianity, then traditional African religions, and others. The constitution of The Gambia guarantees and respects Freedom of Religion or Belief, and the authorities generally appreciate this right even in practice.
However, just like in many parts of Africa, the freedom of religion has been greeted with some challenges and violations, which calls for concerted efforts to promote and protect this fundamental human right. The talk show, which provided a platform for the general public to interact with the panellists in the studio on the subject of discussions, also had the panellists and the listeners agreeing there is a need to strengthen the relationship between Christians and Muslims in The Gambia for peace and development to thrive even the more.
They also decided that although The Gambia has made progress in protecting religious freedom, challenges still need to be addressed to ensure everyone can practice their religion or belief without fear of discrimination or persecution.
The Dean of the Anglican Diocese of Gambia, The Very Reverend James S. Cole, who is also the FoRB National Coordinator and PROCMURA representative in The Gambia, expressed the commitment from the religious leaders working together and speaking in one voice to promoting the freedom of religion for all in The Gambia.
The panellist included PROCMURA’s consultant Rev. Dr. Mbillah and other selected religious leaders from the Methodist Mission in The Gambia, The Gambia Supreme Islamic Council, and they engaged in raising awareness among the public on the need and importance of promoting FoRB from the PROCMURA’s unique approach.
Promoting the freedom of religion is in line with PROCMURA’s vision of realizing “a continent where Christian and Muslim communities, in spite of their differences, work together for justice, peace and reconciliation, towards the holistic development of the human family and the environment” and the media from across the continent has been a critical stakeholder in this journey.
At the Central Office in Nairobi, Kenya, PROCMURA is hosting a series of podcast episodes focusing on various topics of discussion. The inaugural episodes focused on promoting and protecting the Freedom of Religion or Belief across Africa. Hosted from the PROCMURA Media Center at the Central Office, the PROCMURA Podcast provides a platform to host various panellists, both physically and virtually, from across the continent for informative, educative, and interactive discussions. Countries so far hosted include Nigeria, Ghana, Uganda, Tanzania, and Kenya.
Last year (2022), PROCMURA ran a robust media campaign in Kenya to sensitize the public on the need and importance of peaceful elections. The campaign, which spanned before, during, and after Kenya’s 2022 General Elections, contributed more significantly to Kenya having peaceful elections, for the first time in a long time, despite the polls being one of the most hotly contested in the country’s elections history.
