The Minister for Information, Mr Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, has urged the Information Services Department (ISD) to focus on four of its core mandates to become more relevant to the government and people of Ghana
The four areas, the Minister said, include the public relations services the department offers to the Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), the public reaction reports and research, public education campaigns and the newly created Right to Information Division.
Mr Oppong Nkrumah said this at the staff durbar of the Ministry of Information (MoI) and ISD in Accra on Wednesday, December 23, 2020.
He asked the management of ISD to ensure that all government agencies have well trained Public Relations Officers posted from the department to manage the flow of information between the agencies and their publics.
He said the department now has a research unit that is well equipped with computers to process public reaction reports on government policies from the 16 regions.
“Another area ISD must focus on is its public education campaigns on government policies and pertinent issues across all the districts in the country and if this work is done well it would not be only the government that would patronize this service of ISD but organisations like United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) who need to educate the public, would find ISD as a reliable partner,” he said.
On the RTI division, he said RTI law has been touted as a game-changer in the fight against corruption in the country and the department should therefore ensure that every public institution — about 600 of them — had RTI units manned by RTI officers who understand the law and give the public access to information.
He disclosed that the cabinet has approved ISD Transformation Agenda, which among other things was aimed at retooling ISD to carry out its functions effectively.
“Though we were not able to see it bear fruit during my tenure, I am happy to inform you that we have got approval in principle and we expect the procurement processes for 275 information vans to commence shortly after President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s inauguration,” he said.
In a remark, the Director of ISD, Mr Charles Wereko, commended the staff of ISD for their contribution to the success of both the ministry and department even though the year was a difficult one because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
He expressed gratitude to the Minister for Information for the work that he has done for the department for the short time he has been with the ministry particularly, for working hard to ensure that the ISD Transformation agenda finally got the approval of the cabinet.
Ishmael Batoma, ISD
