National Initiative for Civic Education Trust (Nice) has added video showrooms on its list of platforms through which it is disseminating civic and voter education ahead of the 2014 Tripartite Elections.
Nice national programmes manager, Grey Kalindekafe, said in an interview after touring voter registration centres in Thyolo, Mulanje and Phalombe that the decision was arrived at after conducting thorough research on the effectiveness of showrooms in information dissemination.
He said the research showed that video centres are one of the most effective tools through which one can easily reach out to the targeted audience with civic and voter education.
“In our research, we found that most of the patrons to these shows are above 18. As such, we felt it’ll be better for us to reach them with messages on the 2014 Tripartite Elections while they are enjoying films without disturbing their peace,” explained Kalindekafe.
He said through this arrangement, Nice will provide clips, which owners of the video showrooms will have to slot from time to time.
Kalindekafe disclosed that, in some instances, the organisation pays for the patrons in an effort to bring in everyone into the showroom.
“We’re asking the general public to patronise these showrooms to ensure they don’t miss information on the 2014 Tripartite Elections. Elections are very critical to the consolidation of democracy and it’s their right to ensure this is possible by participating in the elections,” he said.
