Former Minister of Information Kojo Oppong Nkrumah says his successor will have a tough time running the Information Ministry if challenges confronting the ministry are not addressed.
According to him, inadequate funding, lack of cooperation from other ministries and government agencies and attempts to undermine the work of the ministry are some of the challenges hindering its smooth running.
He indicated that the ministry for the 2024 fiscal year has no budget to prosecute government communications despite the numerous policies and programmes being rolled out by the government and which the public need to be informed about.
“One of the major challenges is funding for the ministry. I have gone on record as saying that for the year 2024, there’s zero budget for government communications at the Information Ministry and if that is not rectified, she will have a tough time executing any communication programmes. Government is doing a lot of work across the country but you need to put money on the table to get air to showcase what you have done. Zero Ghana cedis cannot do that”.
He added that despite the minister and the ministry being government chief spokesperson, some ministries fail to make information regarding their activities available to them, making their work difficult.
“The other challenge is that you only assist other ministries, Department and Agencies. So if a ministry, a department or an agency doesn’t want you to assist them, there’s nothing you can do as an Information Minister.”
Mr. Oppong Nkrumah said that the ministry also has the challenge of battling deliberate attempts to undermine its communications.
These, he believes, if not addressed will make the running of the ministry difficult for his successor.
Kojo Oppong Nkrumah was reassigned to the Works and Housing Ministry with his former Deputy Fatimatu Abubakar elevated to succeed him.
He expressed confidence in her to excel but wants those bottlenecks tackled.
