Welcome Major Don-Chebe (Rtd.)

We dedicate today's Editorial to our good friend and Brother Major Albert B. Don-Chebe (rtd). We congratulate him on his appointment as the Director General of the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation. We received the news with a lot of joy and expectation. We have followed Major Don-Chebe's public Service since the 1980's and admire his patriotism, commitment to public service, his ability to mix with all and above all, his humility.

When Albert Don-Chebe returned from England with a Master degree in English and decided to join the Ghana Armed Forces, many people did not understand him. People wondered why a holder of a Master degree will want to join the military and start off as a Lieutenant.

In those days military adventurism was very rife and rewarding on the continent and in Ghana. The joke then was that may be Don-Chebe wanted a quick rise to the top and therefore wanted to do so through a coup d'état. Off course he rebuffed these jokes with the fact that he only wanted to serve. Besides young Don-Chebe was raised in the barracks and grew to admire the Police and Military. As a young man he aspired to become an Officer of the Military so he could also dress smart in the officers' uniform and make his father proud.

Major Don-Chebe voluntarily retired from the Army in 1999 to work with the Ghana Breweries Ltd as Corporate Affairs. He moved on to become Corporate Communications Manager with Ghana Telecom and Vodafone. He later worked with the Millennium Development Authority in 2008 as Director for Community and Public Outreach. We are told that his last office before his appointment as Director-General of the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) was Director, Corporate Planning and Communications at the Export Development and Agricultural Investment Fund (EDAIF).

This write up is a tribute to the living Major Don-Chebe (rtd). It is to welcome him and let him know that he has fans and admirers who have followed his career and wish him very well. His appointment to the GBC may well be 'most open' public office he has occupied so far.

The GBC has a history of mixed fortunes and the burden of a mother of many rival children. As the National Broadcaster, the GBC, more than anyone else, has an enormous responsibility to inform, educate and entertain the nation. The real challenge with that is the content of their information, education and entertainment. What do you inform the people about? What do you educate them on? and what do you entertain them with?

Major Don-Chebe will have to remember that whoever or whatever occupies the National Broadcaster (Radio and Television) has the opportunity to dominate the minds of the people and ultimately impose a culture and a lifeclass on them. So we have to be careful who or what is driving our National Broadcaster. The documentaries on Japanese (nothing against Japanese) snow and lifeclasss should be minimized. Not just Japanese but any foreign presentations that do not inure to our benefit should be looked at again.

Let us show Ghanaians who we are; our daily lives and struggles; our moments of joy and sorrow, the urban and rural lifeclasss, the poor and the rich and off course our life conquests and defeats. Show us who we are and make that effort to transform us into the people we truly aspire to be. This is our only National Broadcaster. What did our forbears intend it to achieve? What do really want to do with it? Don't just fill the space and time. Fill it meaningfully.

The other little matter that we want to draw Major Don-Chebe's mind to is that there are FORCES in this country that are constantly in contention for the levers and attention of the National Broadcaster. Unfortunately the interests of these contending forces do not always meet with the interests of the people of Ghana. Ghana is actually the owner of the National Broadcaster. Ghana's interest represents the people more than any of the other contending forces. Be fair to all contending forces but always stand with Ghana.

We pray that the Almighty God will give you the wisdom and strength to perform and to serve this country to the best of your ability. This is yet another opportunity for you to write your own testimonial; WHAT WILL YOU WRITE?

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