Accra, April 19, GNA – Mr Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, the Information Minister has reaffirmed the Government’s commitment to resource the Ghana News Agency (GNA) to return to its glorious days.
Speaking in an interview with the GNA after a meeting with the members of the New Board of the Agency, Mr Nkrumah said, GNA continued to play very important roles in the dissemination of information in the country and would be resourced to remain the reference point.
“We are committed to re-injecting resources into GNA so that you leapfrog and take your pride of place,” he said.
The meeting was to afford the Minister an opportunity to meet members of the Board, deliberate on issues affecting the Agency and initiate policies and programmes to uplift it.
Mr Nkrumah, while commending members of the Board, admonished them to bring to the fore their expertise to make GNA better.
He said the Board had come at a time when the GNA was at a turning point, adding that it was, therefore, important that it helped navigate the Agency through the challenges to put it at the forefront of news wire services in the country in the next three decades.
Mr Nkrumah said the Ministry of Information was working with the Finance Ministry to allow some agencies under the Ministry – the Information Services Department (ISD) and GNA – to retain percentages of their Internally Generated Funds (IGFs) for some of their projects and hopeful that could help reposition the agencies.
Mr Ransford Tetteh, the Chairman of the GNA Board, appealed to the Minister to assist the Agency address the poor remuneration and compensations of staff to incentivise them and increase productivity.
He noted that over the years, the Agency had lost quality staff to the market due to poor remuneration and said that situation must be addressed.
He said that had become important because the new “business and economic news reporting” project the Agency was embarking on would not only require competent reporters but well-motivated staff to ensure success.
Mr Tetteh expressed the Board’s commitment to giving management the needed backing to make GNA better.
Mr Albert Kofi Owusu, the General Manager of GNA, said the Agency was working towards becoming a specialised business and economic news reporting outlet.
He said it had been in touch with other media organisations, both locally and internationally to ensure that there was ready market for the multimedia business and economic product the Agency would produce.
GNA