Information Minister Kojo Oppong Nkrumah is seeking the support and utmost commitment of the staff of the Ministry of Information and the Information Services Department (ISD) for the transformational agenda of the two outlets of the Government of Ghana.
“Take personal responsibility for the transformational agenda,” he urged, on Thursday in Accra, in keynote address, at the launching of a manual and a two-day orientation programme of the agenda.
When he assumed office, the Minister began the Transformational Agenda to meet the changing needs of society, with a focus on modernizing the Department’s operations and services to better serve the public.
The Department adopted several initiatives, including increasing the Department’s use of digital technologies, expanding the range of services it offers and improving citizen access to information.
The ISD said it had invested in developing and implementing an advanced digital infrastructure through the Research Division to enable the ISD to better manage its data and to provide citizens with easy access to information.
As part of the reforms, an Access to Information Division was created and the Public Relations Coordinating Division was retooled and reoriented to play a lead role in coordinating government information daily.
Other activities that are being engaged in are a retooling of the newsroom with a number of computers, retooling of the Research Division with new computers and other equipment, renaming of the ISD Operations Division as Public Education Division and reorientation of officers to play a lead role in disseminating government information.
Regional and district offices are also being retooled, and the ISD is in the process of procuring cinema led trucks that will bring innovation and creativity to reach the public in the nook and cranny of the country.
The Minister thanked the directors and staff for their cooperation in the exercise so far, and challenged them to let the visible improvement in the structures and activities be very evident in the next six months,
Mr Oppong Nkrumah noted that the change process would bring some discomfort, and “not everybody will get what you personally desire.”
He, however, registered his personal commitment to the ISD Transformational Agenda, saying, “the ISD should become an organization that is fit for the purpose of the future, not a champion of the past.”
Mr Oppong Nkrumah pledged to go to all the links to raise money and other resources.
“I’m personally committed, what I need is your commitment,” he emphasized, adding, “take ownership of it, and treat it like your own property, your private business. You are writing your own story of excellence
“I want to see you in about six months doing some wonders.”
Mrs Charlotte Morgan Asiedu, the Chief Director, said the Ministry wants to scale up, in addition to the widely known traditional information van service delivery.
“Let’s scale up, we should be the change agents,” she urged.
Mr David Owusu Amoah, Acting Director of the ISD, said the Department aimed to become a one-stop shop for government information and communication delivery.
There were presentations on the ISD Transformation Agenda dealing with Administration and Human Resources, Research, Media, Public Education, Public Relations Coordinating, Access to Information Division, Planning Budgeting and Finance Divisions.
