Thursday,
February 6, 2014
Folks, I will bluntly say upfront
that the Mahama-led government has lost the communication and information
sector as a potent force in good governance. And it will continue to suffer the
negative backlash.
The main problem facing this administration
is its inability to sell itself to prevent its opponents from poisoning the
minds of Ghanaians (home and abroad) about its accomplishments, failures, and
strategies to advance good governance. Whenever I read anything complaining
about the damaging of its interests by political opponents, I laugh out loud.
And I turn to blame the government itself, not those propagating the damaging
half-truths or plain lies about it. Don’t ask me why; but it should be clear to
you that the government isn’t adept at using the opportunities at its disposal
to sell itself.
That problem is not limited to
this Mahama-led administration alone but the entire “Rawlings phenomenon” that
has shot the NDC into prominence and sustained it in Ghana politics thus far.
Rawlings hasn’t had good press,
especially considering the negative campaign launched by his opponents in the
mass media to either contaminate or eradicate his good works. There is a heavy
political dose in all that dirty press work against anything Rawlings. Those
doing so know why and won’t desist just because someone is complaining.
For one thing, Rawlings has
braved all that negative storm and still looms large wherever he goes or
whenever anything about him surfaces. Those bad-mouthing him know it too but
can’t bring themselves to accept the fact that is larger than the life that they
live. They are aggrieved to the marrow and hurting themselves for nothing.
To sustain their anti-Rawlings fervour,
they are quick to look around for anybody or anything reflecting the Rawlings
phenomenon and focus their energies on. They are on a demolition mission,
hoping that if they succeed, it will pave the way for them to regain political
power and do all they can to perpetuate their hold on power.
On the ground, though, the
situation doesn’t seem to favour them. They know it, which is why they are bent
on using negative propaganda and not the truth about themselves to do politics.
And we know it too.
But it seems the Mahama-led
administration doesn’t know that truth, which is why it is not using all the
resources at its disposal to sell itself.
The truth may hurt but it is
unavoidable in human affairs, especially if it is nothing but the truth that it
is.
The main problem I have with the
government is that it is not doing enough public education to inform Ghanaians
about what it is doing or failing to do and why. It has left everything to
chance and opened itself up at various fronts to be attacked anyhow. That’s not
how to do productive politics.
Let it be said loud and clear
that the government is not performing well in the area of public education
despite all the resources available to it. There are many areas of national
life that public education can help the government regain public trust and
confidence.
Be it in the education sector,
labour front, the economic problems, energy crisis, or many other areas, there
is a lot not being told Ghanaians to keep them abreast of circumstances as they
develop to create the impression that the government isn’t sensitive to the
plight of the ordinary Ghanaian or that it is just not competent enough to
solve problems. Its opponents know how to jump on this lapse to advantage, which
is why their campaign of lies is enough to harm the government’s image. They
have succeeded in forcing the government to be reactive instead of being
proactive.
And they are using their lackeys
in the private media to advantage while the government’s own media relations
work has crumbled. How much have Mahama Ayariga and his team at the Ministry of
Information and Media Relations done to change the dynamics? Nothing!! Worse
still because the antagonism against the NDC since Rawlings time persists or
has been lifted a notch higher!!
Why is it that the government
cannot use all the resources at its disposal to encourage public education? No
one is calling for any knee-jerk measure to paint the government white; but the
exigency of the situation calls for measures to use all available means to
inform Ghanaians about issues.
Yet, the government has a the
Ministry of Information and Media Relations, District Information Offices, and
a bunch of useless noisemakers called "Government's Communication
Team" whose staff draw salaries but aren’t serving the purposes for which
they are in employment. Waste of the tax payers’ money on such institutions and
employees!
I have already assessed the
Ministry of Information (and Media Relations) and concluded that it is
irrelevant and must be abolished; but there is no indication that the President
will take action on that score. That being the case, will it not be prudent to
ensure that the Ministry is turned around to serve purposes other than the
spur-of-the-moment responses that its political heads (the Minister and his
deputies) give to the lies fed the public by political opponents. Apart from
such responses, the Minister and his deputies aren’t serving any useful purposes.
And those responses don’t even serve any useful purpose.
Take, for instance, the impulsive
“Daily Weekly Briefings” that the government announced late last year as its
means to explain happenings to the public. Murtala Mohammed, the Deputy
Minister of Information, gleefully announced this programme and shot himself
into the limelight for a few days and faded. The programme achieved nothing
credible and faded.
Since then, nothing concrete has
been done to propagate the government’s performance. All that is happening is a
slip-shod approach to picking on issues at random and responding to only when
the government is pushed to the wall by its political opponents. Is that how to
rule a country and expect to retain political power?
Added to that problem is the incompetence
of the members of the NDC's information and communication unit, who are
sleeping on the job, waiting for the electioneering campaign season for
Election 2016 to rise and disturb us with pleas and useless refutations of the
government’s acts of commission or omission threatening its hold on power. A
gang of overzealous people who shouldn't be where they are.
So far, the problems militating
against the economy need much public education to allay fears, doubts, and
suspicions. Unfortunately, nothing is being done by the government to change
negative impressions about it. How inconceivable!!
Not until public education is
done to inform Ghanaians adequately about the situation, no one should be
surprised at what political opponents gain when they put out lies to be
accepted as the truth about the government's shoddy performance.
No one is saying that the
government can claw back lost public goodwill through such public education
stunts; but the truth is that it stands to gain more if it levels with
Ghanaians and sufficiently answers the concerns that the people have. Its
performance should sell it but it can’t do without public education too. Sadly,
the government has all the means to sell itself but is incapacitated by its own
lethargy. Truly, in the abundance of water, the fool is thirsty (Bob Marley
recalled here for emphasis).
I shall return…
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E-mail:
mjbokor@yahoo.com
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