Budget Education Should Target Hinterlands

Mr. Benin Issifu Duori, Upper West Regional Director of the Information Services Department has urged staff of the Department to take the 2018 Budget Statement and Economic Policy sensitisation and education campaign to the hinterlands.

He also appealed to them to be innovative and explore all avenues including; visiting churches and mosques to disseminate the 2017 budget achievements and also educate them on the policies and programmes contained in the 2018 budget.

Mr. Duori who said this during the 2018 Budget Statement and Economic Policy sensitisation and education campaign launch in Wa, said this would enable them elicit feedback from the people for policy re-direction or enforcement.

The Regional ISD Director also entreated the staff to see themselves as the mouthpieces of the government mandated by the laws of the country to educate the citizenry on government policies and programmes.

He appealed to them to be as professional as possible in the discharge of their duties, saying this was the only way they could win the confidence of the people as the mouth piece of the government relative to government.

'With the liberalisation of the airwaves and the print media, private radio stations and the newspapers have become choosy in message development, servicing various political, cultural, social and commercial interest', he said.

Mr. Duori noted however that the rest of the country was left for the Ministry of information to cover and that this was done mainly through its implementing Agency which was the ISD.

In light of this, the ISD Regional Director noted that the Department was seen as a critical stakeholder in bridging the information gap that existed between the governor and the governed particularly in the rural areas.

The campaign which was on the theme: 'Putting Ghana Back to Work' would last for 10 days in the region.

Mr. Duori mentioned the implementation of the Free Senior High School (SHS) policy, restoration of teacher and nursing trainee allowances, the fight against illegal mining, stability in electricity supply, reduction and abolition of nuisance taxes and the introduction of paperless transactions at the ports as some of the 2017 budget achievements.

Others include; the passing into law three development authority bills and the special prosecutor's bill, recruitment of 822 agriculture extension officers, achievement of micro-economic stability, and the successful management of the fall army worm invasion and bringing it under control.

On 2018 policy initiatives, Mr Duori listed the nation's builder's corps and the Akufo-Addo Plan for Economic Transformation (AAPET) as well as some financial and energy sectors initiatives that government would be pursuing.