Cabinet approves movement of GIJ to MOE

Accra, Dec. 1, GNA - Mr Daniel Kweku Botwe, Minister of Information, on Thursday announced that the Cabinet had finally approved the Ministry's requests to move Ghana Institute of Journalism (GIJ) from the Ministry of Information (MOI) to the Ministry of Education (MOE). He said the Ministry of Information had been ready to let GIJ go to the MOE, "not because we do not want GIJ but for obvious beneficial reasons to GIJ, including access to the GETFund."

Mr Botwe told journalists in Accra that the Attorney - General's Department was preparing the necessary legal documents covering the smooth movement of GIJ to MOE for the subsequent approval of Parliament, saying that he hoped that would happen sooner than later. He also expressed the hope that under the MOE, GIJ would expand and perform even better as it would be in the position to be properly resourced.

Mr Botwe said the reason some journalists very often found themselves in the long arms of the law was not because they had had bad training at GIJ, but it was because they usually breached the code of ethics of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA). "The problem we face with Ghanaian journalists is not that of incompetence but of breach of ethics. If you adhere to your own code of ethics I am sure it will solve lots of problems for us all," he said. Mr Botwe noted that under the current legal regime, the Government could not interfere with the work of journalists without being accused of stifling press freedom.

It was, therefore, imperative for media practitioners to adhere to their own code of ethics to avoid clashes with government officials and with the law.

He said following the recommendations made at the recent Non-Aligned Movement Information Ministers Conference in Kuala Lumpur, journalists would benefit from training in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) and other issues of concern to developing nations to improve their reportage on those issues.