Minister lauds media for role in elections; urge them to play new role

Sunyani (B/A) June 30, GNA – Mr Kwadwo Nyamekye-Marfo, Brong-Ahafo Regional Minister, has urged the media to provide information that would help the government to work towards alleviating the plight of the vulnerable having disseminated credible information that made the 2008 general election peaceful.

Mr Nyamekye-Marfo, commended the media for the critical role it played in the elections when he paid familiarization visits to some Sunyani-based FM radio stations on Monday.

“We as a government owe the media a lot of gratitude,” he said, adding that the government was committed and prepared to ensure that the media obtained information on its developmental agenda.

The Regional Minister implored proprietors of radio stations to organise regular capacity-building training programmes to update the knowledge of their staff, especially for the journalists on modern trends in the profession.

Mr Nyamekye-Marfo cautioned the media to cross check their facts and to be circumspect in their reportage in order not to create unnecessary tension.

In answer to a question on how students of basic schools in the region could be helped to improve their academic performance, Mr. Nyamekye-Marfo appealed to municipal and district assemblies to offer scholarships to brilliant students to augment the efforts of their parents.

He noted that the region's performance in the Basic Education Certificate Examination had not been encouraging for the past five years and appealed to parents to provide their children with the necessary learning materials to supplement the efforts of teachers.

Mr. Nicholas Agyei Kyeremeh, Chief Executive Officer of Sky Broadcasting Limited, expressed appreciation for the minister's visit to the station, and assured him that the station would collaborate with his administration to ensure that credible information was disseminated.

The other stations the regional minister visited were Dinpa FM, Ark FM and Radio BAR.

GNA