Information Ministry to recruit 557 new staff
Mr. Fritz Baffuor, the Minister of Information said the Ministry is looking forward to recruit 557 new staff as a measure to address the problem of inadequate personnel facing the Ministry.
Mr. Baffuor, who was interaction with workers of the Information Services Department (ISD) in Wa on Monday as part of his two-day official tour of the region, said a proposal to that effect had already been approved by the Government.
He stated, however, that he would not embark on the recruitment until government properly resourced the Ministry and also made available funds for the payment of the new personnel that would be recruited.
The Minister said he was in the region to inspect facilities of the Information Services Department (ISD) and also interact with the staff to find out their challenges to enable him make a case to the government to resource the Ministry.
Mr. Baffuor stated that the core function of the Ministry was to disseminate government information to the public, but noted that this could not be done effectively without appropriate tools and equipment.
He said information was essential to the development of every nation, adding that as a media person himself, he was going to ensure that government paid the necessary attention to the needs of the Ministry through proper budgetary allocation and provision of vehicles and other equipment.
Mr. Baffuor described the ISD Regional Office in Wa as an old museum used in keeping abandoned equipment.
According to him, the place was certainly not a conducive working environment for the staff and something must be done about it immediately the Ministry gets the right funding from government.
The Information Minister also reminded the staff that they were public servants and must eschew partisanship and rather be as objective as possible.
“Information staff is public servants, your job is about objectivity, you have to say the truth, you should not skew information because of partisanship; the moment you become partisan, you have failed and that should not be the case”, he stated.
Mr. Baffuor said he would ensure that there was a Cabinet directive to all district assemblies for them to make it a point to support District Information Officers.
Mr. Issifu Benin, the Regional Information Officer, thanked the Minister for the visit even at this crucial moment where all politicians were busy campaigning in their constituencies.
He said the dwindling warrant allocation and warrant releases coupled with deplorable offices and inadequate equipment were their major challenges in the region.
He also appealed to the Minister to do something about the promotion of staff to motivate them to give off their best.
Source: GNA