The Select Committee on Information and Communications in Parliament has pledged to ensure the Ghana News Agency (GNA) is allocated adequate resources to enhance its operations for effective delivery on its mandate.
The assurance comes on the back of the committee’s working visit to the Agency on Friday to acquaint itself with the operations of the organisation and identify challenges hampering its operations that require intervention.
It also assessed ongoing renovation works on the Head office at the Ministries in Accra.
The committee was led by its chairman, Dr Abednego Bandim.
He was accompanied by Mr Charles Asuako Owiredu, the Deputy Ranking Member, Mr Simon Aworigo Akibange, Mr Nelson Kofi Djabab, and Mr Felix Okle Akwetey, all members.
The rest are Mr Adama Sulemana, Mr Thomas Tsekpo Worlanyo, and Mr David Vondee Theophilus Dominic.
Briefing the media after the tour, Dr Bandim said the committee had taken notice of the Agency’s challenges and would embark on the necessary steps to ensure they were addressed.
“So, we will do our reports and report vividly what we saw with our eyes at all the agencies that we visited and make highlights of the very challenges that they have indicated to us with recommendations,” he said.
“And we will be recommending to Mr Speaker to assist get the ministries and ministers who are responsible to addressing some of these challenges.”
Dr Bandim, however, noted that some of the challenges could be addressed by the management, citing the review of the Agency’s Legislative Instrument and encroachment on its lands and property.
On the encroachment, Dr Bandim urged management to secure all the Agency’s lands and property by ensuring that they were properly registered to avoid a take-over.
“Some of them are not registered. You go to Lands Commission, yes, they know that this land belongs to Ghana Post, this one belongs to Ghana News Agency or GBC, but there are no documentation that really shows that that land is over there in Kumasi, at this location with proper documentation on it,” he said.
The chairman charged the Agency to leverage on technology and innovate more to stay relevant in the space, stressing that modernising its operations would enable it to generate more revenue.
“News is money, information is money. It is how you package and deliver it timeously,” he said.
Mrs Beatrice Asamani Savage, the Director of Editorial, GNA, highlighted logistical and poor working conditions as key factors impeding the effectiveness of the Agency.
On working conditions for instance, Mrs Savage, who is acting for the General Manager, who is on an international assignment, explained that the poor remuneration had led to high attrition rate, with the organisation unable to retain highly qualified journalists.
“Salaries are very low and we don’t have any enterprise level allowances to cushion anyone. And the news editor doesn’t have any special allowance. The head of editing doesn’t, regional managers, likewise,” she said.
“So, the remuneration is virtually non-existent. You have to really motivate yourself to show up every day, and that is what we have specialised to do over time, that we look at the national interest and we endeavour to show up because the vision is a good one. It’s a noble one.”
“It’s important for Ghana, and we can’t let Ghanaians down.”
On logistics, Mrs Savage said until the African Development Bank supported the Agency to procure four new cars, it had relied on “rickety vehicles” which were donated by the government in 2007.
-GNA
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