'GNA can improve efficiency under Communications Ministry'

As part of efforts to boost information flow to the public, the Government established 16 Community Information Centres throughout the country in 2013, with 21 more centres currently under construction.

Dr Edward Kofi Omane-Boamah, Minister of Communications disclosed this at a meeting with the management and staff of the Ghana News Agency (GNA) in Accra on Wednesday, during a visit to familiarise himself with the operations of the Agency.

“We are living in a democratic environment and information or news is key; we consume it from morning to evening”, the Minister stated.

He urged the Management of GNA to explore ways of collaborating with those Centres to enhance information flow particularly in the rural communities for national development.

The Minister said the GNA could enhance its operational advantages by working closely with allied agencies under the Communications Ministry such as the National Information Technology Agency and the Information Services Department.

He observed that the GNA had consistently maintained its record as a credible source of news over the years, and lauded the ESOKO-GNA weekly market commodity survey report as an innovation that would boost the Agency’s image at both the national and international levels.

Dr Omane-Boamah gave the assurance that government would continue to support the GNA to discharge its mandate, and that particular attention would be given to the areas of information and communications technology and infrastructural development.

The GNA is the foremost news agency in Sub-Saharan Africa, set up on the eve of the country’s independence in 1957 by Ghana’s first President Dr Kwame Nkrumah, to promote national unity/cohesion, as well as harness information for national development.

Although the National Media Commission exercises oversight responsibility over the GNA, it had depended on the Ministry of Information over the years for financial resources and budgetary allocation, until a few weeks ago when Government’s decision to abolish the Information Ministry necessitated the realignment of the GNA with the Ministry of Communications.

Dr Bernard Otabil, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the GNA enumerated a number of innovations the Agency had come up with to augment its traditional newsgathering and dissemination function.

These include the GNA Press and Media Monitoring Services, the GNA Mobile news-feed services, the GNA Centre for Journalism and Multimedia Studies, GNA Events and Conferences and the GNA-Esoko Commodity index.

He said GNA had also entered into a collaborative agreement with the Italian News Agency in the areas of news exchange and technical support.

Dr Otabil cited the delay in the release of government subvention and the absence of reliable means of transport as some of the key challenges affecting the operations of the Agency.

He also mentioned the refusal of subscribers to pay for the news items they received from the Agency as a key factor that accounted for the low revenue performance of the GNA.

The CEO appealed to government for cars and motorcycles the Headquarters and the regional offices, emphasising that mobility was key to the success of the GNA’s newsgathering operations.

Dr Omane-Boamah was accompanied on the visit by his two deputies, Mr Felix Ofosu Kwakye and Mr Ato Sarpong.