A political marketing strategist, Dr Kobby Mensah, has described political town hall meetings as the most effective and efficient mode of political communication and urged political parties to make use of such meetings to woo the electorate.
He said in the current representative democratic system of the country, town hall meetings provided a good opportunity for physical conversations between politicians and voters on topical issues.
“Town hall meetings are and have been the best mode of political communication between politicians and the people because there is nothing like an intermediate who can twist the conversation or who can present interruptions.
Dr Mensah, who made this known, noted that such engagements were a step in the right direction to clarify issues and misunderstandings, serve as an important platform for interactive sessions between party leaders and members and promote close relationships between politicians and voters, unlike the mass media.
He explained that there was access and communication taking place, so the politician becomes more accessible, where communication gaps were readily addressed which used to be the mode of communication until the era of modernisation.
“Modernisation era because communities have grown, they cease to be the kind of communities everybody knows everybody, people do not have time, they are working at different times, some go to the markets, farms and some go to the formalised places like white colour jobs,” Dr Mensah observed.
The National Democratic Congress (NDC’s) upcoming town hall meeting, under the auspices of the National Communications Bureau of the party, will be on the theme: ‘Dissecting Ghana’s Ailing Economy and the Obnoxious E-levy Policy”. It will be attended by the media and various stakeholder groups, and will give an opportunity to share their thoughts on the theme for the event scheduled at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology.