Let The System Work Despite Teething Challenges

A day's conference has been organised for the regional managers, departmental and sectional heads of the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Accra, to share ideas and chart the way forward towards improving the performance of the Agency for national development.

The annual conference is intended to strengthen and renew the bond between the Agency's headquarters and its regional offices.

The meeting brought together regional managers from the Western, Central, Tema, Volta, Ashanti, Brong Ahafo, Northern, Upper East and West Regions and expected to come out with a communique at the end of the meeting.

Mrs Yaa Oforiwaa Asare-Peasah, the Acting General Manager of the GNA, in her welcoming address, commended the regional managers for their sacrifices and steadfastness for keeping the Agency running in spite of limited resources.

She said an Agency played a lead role in mobilising the citizens for nation building, economic and social development, as well as national unity and integration, which the GNA had executed with distinction over the past 60 years.

The Acting General Manager made reference to some logistics the Agency needed to work effectively, including vehicles, motorbikes, furniture, computers and accessories.

She, therefore, commended the GCB Bank for donating four computers and a projector to the Agency earlier this year and appealed to other public spirited organisations to support it.

'We should continue with the good spirit we have exhibited so far, I believe that all is not lost, and keep on praying and hoping that the good things we want for the Agency and ourselves will happen one day,' she urged the managers.

In the wake of those challenges, Mrs Asare-Peasah encouraged the regional managers not to lose hope and continue giving of their best to keep the Agency running.

Mr Kwaku Osei-Bonsu, the Acting Supervising Chief Editor, gave a rundown of the number of stories filed by the various regions and encouraged them to improve upon it.

He said currently, the Agency has 123 staff of which 65 were journalists with the editorial department and 300 stringers.

The regional managers complained about resource constraints, while others said some of the stringers were uncommitted and ineffective.

They said some of the Agency's stringers gave their stories to other media outlets and, therefore, could not vouch for their loyalty.

They, however, demanded for improvement of their conditions of service to enhance their performance.

The GNA was established in 1957 as the information arm of government to collate and disseminate news reports to aids in mobilising and rallying the people for national development.

GNA
By Godwill Arthur-Mensah, GNA