ALL
HAIL HON. MUSTAPHA ABDUL-HAMID AND HIS DEPUTIES FOR REBRANDING THE INFORMATION
MINISTRY
By Iddi Muhayu-Deen
The Ministry of Information,
per its mandate, is the official mouthpiece of the government of the Republic,
as it exists to facilitate free flow of adequate, timely and reliable
information and feedback between government and the public for socio-economic empowerment
and enhanced democratic citizenship. It was established with the vision to
attain a free, united, informed and prosperous society through Development
Communications.
That is why the Ministry,
inter alia, exercises oversight responsibility over all the State Agencies
involved in the enterprise of information dissemination including the
Information Service Department (ISD), the Ghana News Agency (GNA), the Ghana
Broadcasting Cooperation (GBC), the Graphic Communications Group Limited
(GCGL), the New Times Corporation (NTC) and the Ghana Publishing Company
Limited (GPCL).
It is however; quite
regrettable to note that the Ministry has in recent past, completely lost
focus. It departed sharply from the very principle underpinning its
establishment. It metamorphosed from an Information hub to a propaganda hub,
where only stories that made government look good, including embellishment and
exaggeration of facts, were told. You would recall for instance that, a certain
Deputy Information Minister, Baba Jamal, under an NDC government, went round
the country, telling ISD workers to jettison the ethics of their profession and
engage in government propaganda.
He was caught pants down on
tape, telling these civil servants that if the government bought a goat, they
should say, it was a cow and that, if the goat is black, they should say, it
was white. That's how badly petty, the NDC government reduced the Information
Ministry to. And to make matters worse, President Mahama, at some point,
infused the Information Ministry into the Ministry of Communications and gave
it to his chief propagandist, Dr. Omane Boamah and the likes of Felix Ofosu
Kwakye, Sam George and other "babies with sharp teeth", to handle.
They left the Information
Ministry building, which also houses the ISD national secretariat, to rot. The
other five Agencies under the Ministry did not receive any serious attention
from Omane Boamah and his lieutenants in the propaganda business. These
Agencies were also deprived of the much needed cash/resources to make them
effective, as monies meant for them, were redirected into remunerating
government/party [NDC] communicators. That was the SAD STORY of the Ministry of
Information under the NDC government.
But, just as every coin has a
silver lining, so, is this Ministry. I say without doubt that, the appointment
of Hon. Mustapha Abdul-Hamid and his deputies to take charge of the ministry,
has proven to give the ministry, a refreshing silver lining. These appointees
of the President, have succeeded in bringing the Information Ministry back on
track in order to focus on its primary mandate. The ministry has thus, been
rebranded from a perceived propaganda outfit of government into a body, with
special focus on Development Communication.
This is of course, consistent
with Hon. Mustapha Hamid's promise to transform the Ministry of Information
when he appeared before the Appointments Committee of Parliament. Not only
that, he has also been able to make a strong case for significant budgetary
allocation to the Information Ministry in the 2017 budget, which is in
unprecedented levels. A chunk of the money, he says, would be channeled into
resuscitating all the Agencies under his Ministry to make them effective and
efficient.
It is also very instructive to
note that the Information Ministry, under Mustapha Hamid, does not explain
government's policies to the people, so that, they become the "dumping
ground" for government stories. Instead, government, through the
Information Ministry, engages stakeholders and the general public in the making
of policies and in the implementation of same. In other words, the Ministry of
Information, provides a platform for the active participation of the private
sector especially captains of industries, heads of government MDAs and the general
public in the making of government policies.
To this end, the Ministry is
organizing POLICY SUMMITS at the national level and across the country, in the
regions and districts. These policy summits, allow you and I, to, on regular
basis, interrogate proposed government policies, make recommendations for
necessary amendments to the policies and also monitor the implementation regime
of those policies. I'm sure you are aware that the maiden edition of the
National Policy Summit was held on May, 15 and 16 at the Accra International
Conference Centre.
The Summit focused on the
economy; so, it was attended by all the people that matter as far as the
nation's economy is concerned including His Excellency the Vice President, the
Senior Minister, the Finance Minister and his deputies, Trade Minister and his
deputies, Energy Minister and his deputies, the governor of Bank of Ghana, Head
of BOST, Head of NPA, Representatives of the Association of Ghana Industries
(AGI), Institute of Economic Affairs (IEA), Consumer Protection Agency, ACEP,
Association of Bankers, Tullow Oil, PURC, GRA, the Telecos, CAGD, Organized
Labour, Ghana Chamber of Commerce, Development Partners as well as ordinary
citizens, to explore mutually beneficial means of achieving the nation's economic
objectives.
Certainly, this is a very
commendable novelty instituted by the Mustapha-led Information Ministry, which
has demystified the enterprise of governance. Beyond this, I can also confirm
to you that the Ministry has instituted a special dispensation that would see
the Information Minister or his deputies, together with officials of the
Ministry, embark on regular familiarization visits to State Owned Agencies as
well as Public Corporations in order to have first-hand information of their
working conditions and be able to make a strong case for them at the highest
level of government, where policies are formulated.
This is exactly what you get
when you have a Mustapha Hamid as your Information Minister. This is exactly
what you get when you have a Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, a Perry Okudjeto and an Ama
Dokua as your Deputy Information Ministers. You just can't ask for more. With
this, you would agree with me that the Information Ministry is arguably, the
busiest in the Akufo-Addo government. I have very close association with the
Ministry and so, I know what I'm talking about. I am also very confident that,
all the people that had issues with the President's appointment of 3 Deputy
Information Ministers, are beginning to revise their notes.
For your information, Hon.
Kojo Oppong Nkrumah is in charge of government policy, research and advocacy,
whereas Hon. Perry Okudzeto handles general operations of the Ministry and
organization of the media to cover government programmes. Hon. Ama Dokua on her
part, exercises direct supervisory role over all the six (6) Agencies under the
Information Ministry. You can see clearly that, this cannot be likened to what
we call, "jobs for the boys" and that, there is every justification
for the appointment of the three deputies because each of them is as busy as
anyone would expect.
One other unique attribute of
Hon. Mustapha Abdul-Hamid that is worth mentioning, is his commitment to
maintaining a TRUE TONGUE and becoming the most HONEST Information Minister in
the history of this Republic. He has proven beyond equivocation that he is
committed to the "Ghana Project" rather than an "NPP or Partisan
Project" in the discharge of his duties and responsibilities as Minister
of Information. He churns out nothing but the truths and facts, at all-time,
for the love of country.
Maybe this has everything to
do with his beliefs as a religious scholar and lecturer in religious studies.
Maybe not. He is very truthful and honest to the Ghanaian people. I'm sure you
heard him recently on joy fm, "faulting" his colleague Minister of
State, Hon. Boakye Agyarko (Minister of Energy) on the 'Addison committee and
Ameri furore', where he described the whole setup as indiscrete and not proper.
That is the hallmark of an honest Information Minister. I bet you, you won't
get this from an Omane Boamah of Information Minister or a Felix Ofosu Kwakye.
Hell NO...
In conclusion, fellow
countrymen and women, I say, in all sincerity that, Hon. Mustapha Abdul-Hamid,
together with his hardworking deputies, would forever be remembered for
bringing honesty to bare in the workings of the Information Ministry and in the
dissemination of government information for that matter. They would also be
remembered for successfully transforming and rebranding the Ministry of Information
from a propaganda enterprise to an enterprise of Development Communication for
the love of God and country. This is an objective assessment of the current
Ministry of Information by a citizen NOT a spectator.
Assalamu alaikum
Iddi Muhayu-Deen
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