Joy FM story on UNDP report was misleading

In the 6.00 pm news bulletin of Joy Fm on Monday, 15th May 2012, the station reported that a UNDP research had cited the Kufuor Administration for neglecting Agriculture and rather spending twice as much on the Military. The said research finding was the African Human Development Report 2012.

However, there is no such finding in the African Human Development Report 2012. A review of page 53 of the report, where Joy FM picked its story from, compares “Cumulative Military spending” and “Agricultural Research & Development spending” for the period 2000 to 2008. Of the nineteen countries covered, only one country, Mauritius spends more on its Agricultural Research & Development than on Military as a whole. The report has no information whatsoever on spending on Agriculture as a whole. And there is no indictment of the Kufuor Administration for spending twice as much on Military as it did on Agriculture between 2001 and 2008. Nor was there an indictment of the NDC Administration for spending twice as much on Military as it did on Agriculture in the year 2000.

The Joy FM story smacks of deliberate misrepresentation. In the said 6.00 pm news bulletin, this misrepresentation was pointed out to the station. And yet, in the 6.00 am news bulletin and on Myjoyonline the following day, the station went ahead and reported the following:

“According to the report, cumulative budgetary spending between 2000 and 2008 show almost twice as much spending on the military compared to agric particularly in the area of research and sector development.”

The meaning of this Joy FM report is that spending on the military was twice as much as agriculture. And that, this observation was particularly pronounced in the area of research and sector development. There is nothing like that in the whole report. And please note the cunning replacement of the phrase “Research and Development” in the UNDP report with the phrase “Research and Sector Development” in the Joy Fm report.

The insertion of the word “sector” completely changes the meaning of the original phrase as it was used in the UNDP report.

We hope the public will take note of this misrepresentation.

Kwaku Kwarteng
(Policy Advisor)
(0270 116 226 or 0244 838 735)