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By Anja Luchtefeld

KAS Media and regional country offices hosted a second Summer Academy in Johannesburg this month entitled Political Communication in Southern Africa Today: Election Campaigning and modern Policy Marketing. 16 opposition leaders from seven African countries were in attendance. The main goals of the bi-annual seminar to exchange ideas, train and network junior politicians.

Besides presentations on developments and trends in international election campaigning practical exercises came to the fore. Therefore the politicians from Angola, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Malawi, South Africa, Namibia and Zambia first engaged theoretically with political communication in the globalised world and the political, legal, financial and media framework of election campaigns in Southern Africa. During the practical exercises, the politicians collaborated to produce typical marketing instruments, which are part of modern election campaigns. Guided by experts from Germany, the politicians worked on an election advert for television, as well as a print brochure.

This project marked the first occasion for KAS Southern Africa country offices and the Media Programme to jointly manage a single regional initiative.

“Regarding the organisation and especially the content, this joint venture with the Media Programme was a great help for us. While the country officers got across the political side of the topic, the Media Programmes’ team was able to light up the media perspective of political campaigning,“ said resident South Africa representative, Werner Böhler.

The next Summer Academy will take place in 2008.