Mr Baba Jamal, Deputy Minister of Information, has called for the support of the Media to promote the Government’s “Better Ghana Agenda”, saying they were the instrument of development.
He said the media whether pro-government or anti-government were always welcomed to partner the Government in the paradigm shift of development, which would see the press paying attention to developmental journalism instead of the over concentration on political issues.
Mr Jamal was addressing journalists in Tamale on Sunday as part of his nationwide tour aimed at galvanizing the support of the fourth estate of the realm for effective democratic governance.
His tour has so far taken him to the Upper West, Upper East and Northern Regions.
He said the Government welcomed constructive criticisms but such must take into consideration the professional ethics of journalism that required practitioners to cross-check facts before publishing.
Mr Jamal said the Government in its quest to be non-discriminative in the media landscape had considered some media houses perceived as anti-government in its activities and had even included most of them on the President’s foreign travels.
Touching on the style of governance, he said the President wanted sanity to prevail in the country and had not prosecuted anybody… adding that New Patriotic Party members were not enemies to the National Democratic Congress but rather brothers and sisters.
He said it was only in Ghana that the ruling government and the opposition could sit together and deliberate on election matters all due to the prevailing peace and press freedom, which all must protect.
The Deputy Minister announced that the Government would soon roll out a nationwide re-branding programme to ensure that all data relating to the country were available on a website so that any investor could access information on the regions and districts.
Mr Moses Bukari Mabengba, Northern Regional Minister, lauded the excellent working relationship between the Regional Coordinating Council and the media in the Region and urged them to continue that cordiality.