Bolgatanga, Aug 20, GNA - The Acting Chief Director at the Ministry of Information, Mr. Victor Xola Senaya, has said information dissemination was a powerful tool that gave direction to the people. He said failure to inform the public on government related policies and programmes would break the trust and confidence the people had for government. He therefore urged the public media to spearhead the dissemination of government policies and programmes to facilitate effective development.

Mr. Senaya was addressing staff of the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Bolgatanga as part of a three-day visit to the Upper East Region. He is expected to visit other public media houses including the Information Services Department, the Ghana Broadcasting cooperation, the Ghanaian Times and the Daily Graphic. Mr Senaya said there was the need for media practitioners in the public sector to be conversant with their obligations in the dissemination of news to the people and that the GNA had to play that role even more because of its precision role in the media landscape.

Mr. Senaya commended staff of the GNA in the region for their hard work and initiatives in constantly keeping the nation informed about activities in the region. He said they should do more by moving out into the hinterland to bring to bring out some of the problems affecting the rural communities.

For instance, the media should draw government's attention to the need for repairs on Bolgatanga town roads and the Bolgatanga/Bawku road. The Acting Regional Manager of the GNA, Ms. Hannah Zemp-Tapang, enumerated the office's problems as the need to replace the computer in the office and add additional ones, the renovation of the office, the need to motivate staff through better conditions of service and inconsistent flow of office impress.

The Regional Information officer, Mr Ayamga N Mba, appealed to the Acting Chief Director to assist in the opening of an information office at Paga, the Kassena-Nankana West District capital. He mentioned the need to rehabilitate the office building in the region, replace old office furniture and the constant break down of cinema vans. Mr Mba said despite the challenges, the staff in the region have been working hard to ensure that the mandate of the disseminating information on government policies and programme was carried out in all parts of the region.