ISD pledges to collaborate with media in national interest

Accra, Aug. 25, GNA - The Information Services Department (ISD), a w= ing of the Ministry of Information, on Thursday urged media personnel to desist from involving civil servants in matters

outside their operations. "We however, wish to assure you of our determination to build development bridges with the

media in the national interest," it said in a statement issued in Accra i= n reaction to a publication in the

Monday, August 15th edition of the New Statesman newspaper. "The attention of the Information Services Department has been drawn= to a publication in the 93New

Statesman" newspaper of Monday, August 15, 2011 (Front-page), entitled "ISD Staff up in Arms

Against Baba Jamal 85 He is destroying our Credibility". "Management and staff dissociate themselves from the statement allegedly made by some people

described as District Information Officers by the paper." The statement signed by Mr Elvis Adanyina, Acting Director, said "Management is taken aback

with respect to the reportage that public perception about the Department has been eroded by the

Deputy Minister's comment. If this is the case, Management wonders why th= e "Information Officers"

could not avail themselves of the Department's 93Public Reaction" repo= rting process to make their views

known. "It is worth stating that since the countrywide tour of the Deputy Minister, no Region or District has

sent any adverse report to Head Office on what Mr Baba Jamal has or has not said. "Under these circumstances Management takes it that what the 91Dist= rict Information Officers' talked

about in the report are a creation of the newspaper. "Just why a newspaper should keep the identity of Information Office= rs secret if the concerns they

raise are legitimate ones." "Assuming that the alleged individuals were Information Officers, whatever statement they were

reported to have made reflected their own opinion, since they were not mandated to speak on behalf

of the Department. "The Department has its own mechanisms to resolve issues of such nat= ure and does not usually

resort to the media in purely Civil Service matters. "Management knows that much as Information Officers have the right to comment on any national

issue, they are guided by the Civil Service Code of Conduct and are responsible for what they say and

where they say them. "All officers of ISD know that they are required by the Civil Servic= e Code of Conduct to seek

clearance from the Head of Service before they go public on all matters concerning the Service and this

they adhere to any time the need arises," it added.