GMet using Guggisberg-era equipment, ISD archives decaying without digitisation

A member of the Parliamentary Committee on Information and Communication, Sulemana Adama, has expressed deep concern over the state of critical national institutions after a recent oversight visit.

According to him, some of the facilities under the Communication and Information Ministries are in dire need of urgent support to avoid long-term damage to essential services and national records.

“Every agency that we visited had their peculiar problems, but if you ask me one thing that really struck me, has got to do with two agencies,” Adama said. “One with the Communication Ministry — that is GMet — and the other is the ISD that used to be with the Information Ministry and is now with Government Communication.”

He described the Ghana Meteorological Agency (GMet) as vital to several sectors including agriculture and marine activities, but said the agency is using equipment that dates back nearly a century.

“When we went to GMet, we realised that one of the equipment was acquired by Governor Gordon Guggisberg. It is supposed to monitor rainfall patterns. They are very obsolete equipment,” he revealed.

Adama noted that while agencies often highlight their challenges during budget hearings, the real impact is only fully understood when seen on the ground. “Usually when they visit the committee during budget hearing and they talk about their issues, you don’t appreciate the issues very much until you visit the facility,” he said. “So I believe that that agency actually needs support.”

The MP also raised red flags about the condition of the Information Services Department (ISD), which holds archival materials dating back to Ghana’s colonial era.

“The ISD has archives dating back to Kwame Nkrumah, even to pre-colonial era. We need to digitize them, but they are at the mercy of weather, they are at the mercy of insects and the rest,” he warned. “Clearly, if nothing is done, it will lead to us losing those data.”

He emphasized that the committee’s visit gave Parliament firsthand insight into how the agencies are operating, the state of facilities, and how budget allocations are being used.

“The visit afforded the committee an opportunity to have an insight into the workings of the agencies. It’s also part of our oversight — to monitor the monies that we gave them, how far they have applied the monies, how much we can support them, and then most importantly, their legislation.”