The Minister for Information, Mr. Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, has charged staff of the Information Services Department (ISD) under his ministry to embrace structural changes in the department.
According to the Minister, the changes were meant to well position the ISD to deliver on its mandate of disseminating government information to the public. He made the comments at the official unveiling of the ‘New ISD Focused and Organisational Structure’ in Accra yesterday.
Minister Oppong Nkrumah noted that in order for the ISD, a Public Relations (PR) organ of the government, to meet communication demands in a modernised technological world, there was the need for retooling and restructuring.
Based on that, the Minister noted that a number of structural changes stemming from the retooling of existing divisions, as well as the introduction of new ones, have been made. The divisions, which were retooled, included the Media Division, PR Division, and the Public Education Campaign Division (PECD).
The new divisions, which have been introduced, are the Research Divisions and the Access to Information Division. The Media Division, which handles the ISDs online news portal, is expected to publish government-focused stories to inform the public of the many developmental projects being undertaken by the government. They are also to help curb disinformation.
The Research Division is also expected to gather public views on government projects, and use its reports to better advise the government on the execution of its projects.
The PECD has also been given a new fleet of cars to help go about their responsibility of disseminating information on government policies and project. Throwing a little light on the importance of the PECD, the Minister noted that people were not receptive to new policies due to the lack of understanding.
He said the PECD, which works in remote areas, was there to offer sensitisations, information and create awareness about any government policy, so that the citizens could appreciate these policies better.
Minister Oppong Nkrumah yesterday, advised the staff to put the logistics to good use, as well as ensuring that they were well maintained at all times. The Ag. Chief Information Officer, Mr. David Owusu-Amoako, on his part, said he was hopeful that the ISD could be relevant if given the needed attention.
He, therefore, expressed his profound gratitude to the Minister for positioning the ISD well, by giving it modern technological equipment to operate with. He alluded that the restructuring had not been easy, but was worth it, because the new ISD was smart and would be capable of executing its role well.
“The restructuring has not been easy, but worthwhile. We now have a structure that can make us execute our roles well,” Mr. Owusu-Amoako said.
He also advised the staff to be open-minded and embrace the changes. He called on public institutions to work hand-in-hand with the ISD when it came to anything that had to do with communication.
“Think about the ISD for all your communication needs… Work hand in hand with us to project government’s agenda,” Mr. Owusu-Amoako charged public institutions.
