Minister Blast Journalists. As Policy Fair Flops

The Minister of Information, John Akurugu Tia, used the last day of the Ashanti Regional Policy Fair to criticize journalists in the country, stating that their unprofessional work is fast demeaning the noble profession.

The media in the country, he remarked, are not interested in developmental stories but rather propagate petty and sensational reports which do not develop the country.

Mr. Akurugu Tia was addressing a few people that attended the closing ceremony of the Ashanti Regional Policy Fair organized by government at the Center for National Culture in Kumasi last Saturday.

He said about 5,000 people attended the four-day event.

Though he declined to mention names, Mr. Akurugu Tia noted that some journalists in the country are working to damage the profession.

The minister appealed to media practitioners to uphold the ethics of the noble profession by being circumspect with their reportage.

President Mills, he announced, has vowed to ensure that the upcoming national polls are held in a peace, fair and transparent manner 'but this cannot be ensured without the support of journalists and all Ghanaians.'

The four-day Ashanti Regional Policy Fair was aimed at giving the opportunity to the general public to access government's developmental projects in the various districts.

Hon. Akurugu Tia said the four-day programme showed to the people in the region that the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government was actively embarking on landmark projects in the Ashanti region.

He therefore implored the few people that attended the event to broadcast the good work of the Mills administration to the general public.

Samuel Sarpong, Chief Executive of the Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly (KMA), who was chairman of the occasion, said the Mills administration had distributed the national cake evenly among the regions.

 From I.F. Joe Awuah Jnr., Kumasi