A debate between a number of Presidents and Editors of Africa will take place in Accra, Ghana, on Sunday July 1 2007 at 3pm, according to a release from The African Editors' Forum (Taef).

The theme of the debate is: "The imaging of Africa: Roles and responsibilities of the political leaders and media".

The presidents who have been invited to take part are from South Africa, Tanzania, DRC, Senegal, Algeria, Nigeria and Liberia.

The editors are Mathatha Tsedu of South Africa, Gaitho Macharia from Kenya, Cyrille Kileba from DRC, Rob Jamieson from Malawi and Souleymane Diallo from Guinea Conakry. They are all active representatives of The African Editors’ Forum (Taef).

The moderators are the Ghanaian foreign Minister and Cheriff Sy representing TAEF.

The debate is being organised by The African Editors Forum, Global Media and Nepad, and will last an hour. It takes place in a special marquee, where about 500 people are expected to attend.

At the end of the debate, which Taef hopes will become an annual feature of the summit with different leaders each year, a new book titled “50 years of journalism: African media since Ghana’s independence” will be launched.

Taef editors from all over Africa will gather in Accra on Saturday June 30 to prepare their speakers from the different regions for the debate, providing information on what is happening regarding journalism and media in their countries and regions.

African presidents will be in Accra for the African Union summit.

For more information, contact:

Mathatha Tsedu – Taef chairperson – MTsedu@citypress.co.za or (27) 82 454 0527

Souleymane Diallo – Taef deputy chairperson – diallosouleymane2001@yahoo.fr or (224) 41 23 85 / (224) 60 25 27 82