Ghana Today: A Sacred Name Hijacked by Political Hirelings to Cause Harm

With time, the Information Services Department (ISD) virtually lost its relevance due to logistical constraints and media proliferation. The perpetuated government communication machinery almost became redundant because of these two factors.

Considering the media as powerful tools of influence, governments at one point in time started relying on them to educate the public about their policies, programmes and activities, ignoring the ISD. Unfortunately, the media could not play the unique role of the ISD, creating a communication gap between the citizens and the government. This phenomenon began to hamper the smooth implementation of government policies and programmes, as the media became propaganda platforms that political groups exploited to promote their sectional interests to the detriment of the nation.

To deal with this development-threatening issue, the Department teamed up with the collapsed Ministry of Information under the immediate past government to transform the ISD into a modern government communication machinery. Consequently, the Ministry and the Department launched a programme called the ISD Transformation Agenda. This programme had two objectives: to restructure and retool the ISD to make it fit for purpose.

Under this programme, the Department restructured its operations, focusing on its operational wings, namely, the Research, Media, Public Education Campaign (PEC) and Public Relations Coordinating Divisions (PRCD). This resulted in the total transformation of the ISD as these divisions were retooled to function better.

As part of the transformation agenda, the Research Division, for instance, was equipped with logistics, positioning it to conduct science-based research on the reaction of citizens to government policies and programmes. The PRCD was also retooled to monitor and collect data on all major government activities, using the Public Relations Officers (PROs) in the various Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs). PEC was also retooled as the division was strengthened with over 40 modern-day cinema vans, with special technologies for public education campaigns.

This is how the name, GhanaToday, came about. To promote daily dissemination of government programmes, policies and activities, the Department teamed up with the defunct Ministry of Information to launch the Ghana Today News Portal with its website, www.ghanatoday.gov.gh

With a team of news writers, sub editors, distributors and a news editor, the portal was updated with news on government programmes and activities. This was made possible with the establishment of a standard bureaucratic structure by the former Minister of Information, Mr. Kojo Oppong Nkrumah.

Under this bureaucratic structure, the news team worked with the PRCD. Through the activities of the PRCD, the mother unit of the government PROs in the various MDAs, the news team was fed with information on government activities and programmes.

A special platform called the Bonsu was created. The PROs sent reports on government programmes and activities to this platform, which was then transformed into news reports and posted on the Ghana Today online news portal. For the purpose of projecting the government, the distributors sent the published news reports to other media houses for further publication.

The former Information Minister also tasked the media team to counter misinformation on government programmes and activities, which had assumed full gear. Thus, Ghana Today, operated by the ISD, was set up to serve as the most credible source of government information as well as to combat misinformation.

Unfortunately, the Ghana Today died with the Ministry of Information, thereby giving a faceless group of experts in misinformation and disinformation to launch uncouth attack on the current government, using a sacred name that was created to fight against what the are perpetrating.

Hmmmm, that is how a sacred name has been hijacked by political hirelings to cause harm. As a civil servant, I can only cry out loud, praying that my genuine concern will not be misconstrued by the powers that be.

Wise men don't cry without a purpose. So, permit me to state the purpose of my nationalistic tears. I wish we could revive the Ghana Today online news portal and use it as a basis to stop these political imposters from executing their misinformation and disinformation with a sacred name.

The author is an Information Officer with the ISD, a columnist with Modern Ghana and a regular contributor to News Commentary, a current affairs programme by the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC)

By Bala Ali