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From left: IPI global chairman Wilfred Kiboro, Rwandan President Paul Kagame, President Kibaki, the Aga Khan, IPI director Johann P Fritz and Vice-President Moody Awori at the official opening of the International Press Institute World Congress and 54th General Assembly in Nairobi yesterday. Photo by Joseph MathengeA call to cultivate better working relations between the media and governments in Africa was made yesterday.

Your Excellency President Kibaki,Your Excellency President Kagame,Mr. Fritz,Mr. Kiboro,Ladies and Gentlemen:My thanks to you, Mr. Kiboro, for your kind words and to the International Press Institute for your warm welcome. Twenty-four years ago I had the honour of addressing this organisation at its 30th annual conference, also held here in Nairobi. Twenty-one years before that, in 1960, I established the Nation newspapers here.

The Aga Khan (L) and the Director of the International Press Instiute Johann Fritz listen to the opening remarks during the official opening ceremony of the International Press Institute and the 54th World Congress General Assembly in Nairobi May 22, 2005. Rwanda President Paul Kagame accused the western media of portraying Africa as a continent wracked with poverty, war and disease, adding that it was up to Africans to change that image,and he also said that the negative portrayal of the continent was one of the reasons it was lagging behind in development. REUTERS/Antony Njuguna

The media was on the receiving end yesterday at the beginning of this year's International Press Institute, IPI, congress in Nairobi, challenged as it was by key speakers of fostering negative stereotypes about Africa, hatred, propaganda and underdevelopment on the continent.But two leading congress organisers Wilfred Kiboro of the Nation Media Group and IPI Director Johann Fritz made a spirited defence of the media, urging caution while seeking to demonstrate that media practise is more valuable and complex than has been appreciated and portrayed by policy makers and ordinary people.

His Highness the Aga Khan, spiritual leader of the Ismaili community and founder of the Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN) today emphasised the importance of both press freedom and excellence in journalism in order to help build Africa's future.
Speaking at the opening ceremony of the International Press Institute (IPI) World Congress and 54th General Assembly held in Kenya, the Aga Khan stressed the need for journalists to acquire deeper and broader knowledge of new and complex issues that confront Africa.