Evangelist Dr Lawrence Tetteh prays with GNA

By Christabel Addo / William Fiabu, GNA
Accra, Oct. 28, GNA - Dr Lawrence Tetteh, an International Evangelist, says it is unfortunate that successive governments have neglected their responsibility to invest in the Ghana News Agency (GNA) to enable it carry its mandate to project the African agenda.

He said the values and personality as envisioned by Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah, the first President were very noble and still relevant to the society's well-being, and there was no reason why any government should lose sight of the importance of funding and equipping such a national asset for the common good.

'When I walk through the offices of the GNA, I am perplexed by what I see regarding the kind of working environment, the furniture and broke down vehicles…' he said during a prayer session with staff of the Agency at the Headquarters in Accra on Friday,

'What are we doing to ourselves, because as the largest news gathering organisation, which other media houses rely on for their news, the GNA's fortune would greatly impact the media landscape and our societal values and well-being,' he added.

He said the GNA was also set up by Dr Nkrumah to disseminate information from every corner of the county through other media houses towards national unity and development.

Dr Tetteh, the Founder of the UK based World Miracle Outreach therefore accepted an invitation by the staff to be the GNA's ambassador to the world, using his platform to enlighten the society on the critical role and relevance of the Agency in the provision of sound and moral education on divers social issues, rather than what currently pertains on other social media landscapes.

He said the critical role of the media as the fourth estate of the realm must not be toyed with and called for greater circumspection in media reportage, knowing the power it possesses.

He encouraged the media, particularly the GNA to uphold their integrity and maintain truthfulness.

He said the media should eschew prejudices and resist the various forms of temptations especially from politicians to distort their reportage.

'Do not be cheapen by the little things and lose your integrity, but you must reach out for the highest value of your professional standards as a media person,' he said.

He said it would take a single misguided word from the media to throw the country into a serious state of chaos.

"As they wield such great power that if not well managed, could take a single misguided word from a member to throw the entire country into a serious state of chaos."

He said the clergy and media have a collective responsibility to ensure that values and morals were enhanced among the citizenry so they would not be lost.

'Yet the media is often forgotten when prayers are being said by Ministers of God for the leadership and persons in authority'.

The media, he said, played a key role in nation building and also in the molding of social morality among the citizenry, and the GNA being the single most largest news organisation must be greatly supported by Government by providing the requisite funding and other resources including staff motivation, to help revamp the Agency to compete favourable in the current competitive news market.

He encouraged the staff of the Agency to maintain their confidence in the virtues that the institution stands for and work hard to promote the course of the GNA in spite of the poor salaries and stretched budgets to contribute their quota.

GNA