Information Services Department gets substantive director

President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has appointed Mr Charles Wereko, the Acting Director of the Information Services Department (ISD), as the substantive Director, after a 20-year vacuum.

His appointment takes retrospective effect from March 5, 2020, after being in acting position since December 18, 2018.

The appointment was done in consultation with the Public Services Commission and the Civil Service Council to fill in the 20-year vacuum, when the last substantive Director, Ambassador Kofi Sekyiamah, exited office in September 2000.

A brief profile of Mr Wereko indicates that he was employed in 1989 as an Assistant Information Officer and was posted to Tano District in the former Brong Ahafo Region to serve as the District Information Officer.

By dint of hard work and effective skills in communications, Mr Wereko was reposted to Head-office and served in various capacities including Special Projects Officer under the then Director of the Department.

His other credentials include Communication Specialist for the National Y2K Project, established in 1999 to mitigate effects of the millennium bug, Minister/Counsellor for Information Section, Ghana High Commission, London, UK as well as Communications Officer for the Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources.

He also served as a Deputy Director in charge of Finance and Administration at the Head Office before rising to become the Acting Director of the Service.

As Acting Director, Mr Wereko was credited with championing a lot of reforms including initiating measures to strengthen government communications machinery by increasing the number of ISD public relations officers on posting to Ministries, Departments and Agencies from 35 to 71.

He enhanced the effectiveness of the ISD public education campaigns by deepening social mobilisation through engagement with identifiable groups and introduced social media platforms as a vehicle for information dissemination at the Department.

Mr Wereko holds a Master of Arts Degree in Corporate Communications from the University of West London, Bachelor of Arts (Geography and Political Science) from the University of Ghana, Legon and Certificate in Public Administration from the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration.