By Eric Appah Marfo, GNA
Accra, April 28, GNA – A high-level delegation from The Gambia’s Ministry of Information, Media and Broadcasting Services Tuesday begun a benchmarking visit to the Ghana News Agency (GNA) to understudy its operations and explore opportunities for institutional cooperation.
The delegation, led by Madam Cordu L. Jabang, Permanent Secretary at the Ministry, is in Ghana for a 13-day visit (from April 27 to May 9) as part of efforts to revive and strengthen The Gambia’s state news agency under the Department of Information Services.
The team is expected to engage with the GNA, the Information Services Department (ISD), the National Media Commission (NMC), and other relevant institutions within the media and information governance space.
Members of the delegation include Mr Madiba Sillah, Deputy Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Information, Mr Ebrima A. Njie of the Department of Information Services, and other officials from the ministry and the news operations unit.
During an introductory meeting with management in Accra, Madam Jabang said the visit was inspired by the Ghana News Agency’s longstanding reputation as one of Africa’s credible state news institutions and its strategic transformation over the years.
She said although The Gambia’s information institution was also established decades ago, there was now a renewed strategic direction to reposition it for national development and more effective public communication.
Madam Jabang explained that the Department of Information Services publishes the Gambia Daily, a government newspaper produced twice weekly, to highlight government activities, development programmes and issues of public interest.
She said the visit would help them assess how best to improve the dissemination of accurate and relevant government-related information to citizens.
Madam Jabang proposed the eventual signing of a Memorandum of Understanding between the two institutions to deepen collaboration and facilitate continuous exchange visits.
She encouraged African countries to increasingly learn from one another instead of always looking to Europe and other continents for institutional models.
Mr Albert Kofi Owusu, the General Manager of GNA, welcomed the delegation and explained that the Agency had evolved from being part of the Information Services Department into an autonomous state news agency established by law, with its own governing board and management structure.
The Agency, he said, was insulated from direct government control through the National Media Commission, which oversaw appointments of heads and boards of state-owned media institutions, including the GNA, Ghana Broadcasting Corporation, Daily Graphic and the Ghanaian Times.
Mr Owusu said that constitutional arrangement ensured editorial independence and long-term institutional stability, regardless of changes in government.
GNA’s mandate was to report accurately, fairly and credibly on national issues while projecting Ghana’s identity and correcting historical distortions of Africa by sections of the Western media, he said.
Mr Owusu noted that the founding vision of Ghana’s first President, Osagyefo Dr Kwame Nkrumah, was for GNA to become “like Reuters in Africa.”
The Agency, he said, once had correspondents in major global cities, including Paris, Brussels, Moscow, New York and Washington, although political instability and military interventions later weakened that structure.
Today, the Agency maintained a strong nationwide correspondent network and partnerships with international news agencies and continental bodies, including the Federation of Atlantic African Press Agencies (FAAPA), headquartered in Rabat, Morocco, Mr Owusu said.
He emphasised that credibility remained the Agency’s greatest strength and urged African news agencies to work together to reduce information asymmetry and help Africans tell their own stories.
“In Parliament, they refer to GNA stories in their debates as sacrosanct and credible. We are focused on making sure news information becomes the bridge to harness the strengths of African countries, and that is something we should all work towards,” he said.
Mrs Beatrice Asamani Savage, the Director of Editorial, said GNA had survived multiple political transitions because of its strong institutional vision and commitment to national development.
“The Agency is currently pursuing a deliberate transition into a multimedia news organisation to serve television, radio and digital platforms more effectively,” she said.
Mr Ebrima A. Njie, of the Department of Information Services, said The Gambia’s news agency, which was once fully operational with UNESCO support, suffered major setbacks during structural adjustment reforms in the late 1980s and later collapsed completely in 1994 during military rule.
He said the return to democratic governance in 2016 had renewed efforts to revive the agency, prompting benchmarking visits to countries including Ghana, Russia, and parts of the Middle East.
Mr Njie described Ghana and The Gambia as brotherly nations with deep historical and professional ties and said the visit would lay a strong foundation for rebuilding The Gambia’s news agency.
Mr Madiba Sillah, on his part, said discussions were ongoing in The Gambia on whether the news agency should eventually be established as an independent institution rather than remain under the Department of Information Services.
He said the benchmarking exercise would support broader African media cooperation and strengthen information exchange across the continent.
GNA
Reporter: Eric Appah Marfo
[email protected]
Edited by Agnes Boye-Doe