Brochure gaffe: I detected errors but allowed it – ISD boss

The acting Director of the Information Service Department (ISD) Francis Kwarteng Arthur says he detected the errors in the brochure used for the Ghana@59 Independence Day celebrations few hours to the event, but could not have withdrawn it due to the amount of brochures that had been printed.

The error-ridden Event Brochure, which outlined the programme of the 59th Independence Day Parade at the Black Starr Square which also gave some historical facts about Ghana, named Kenya President Uhuru Kenyatta as the “President of the Republic of Ghana”.

The brochure also mistakenly added that “Ghana is now recognized as having attained low-income status in the world,” part of the Event Brochure erroneously stated. The Brochure also went ahead to state that “Ghana is strategically positioned on the equator making her the centre of the globe. And like the sun, she radiates light to all parts of the world!”

Further, the Brochure, which has gone viral on social media due to its errors, omitted the letter ‘s’ in ‘Arms’ in the part which sought to explain what ‘The Coat of Arms’ stood for.

Speaking at a press conference Tuesday, Mr. Kwarteng Arthur stated that he takes full responsibility for the errors in the brochure.

“ISD was actually charged to provide the content for the brochure, after a subcommittee meeting I came back and called my deputy director of publishing, Mr. Abisat. The work Mr. Abisat sent to me was what I forwarded to the designer who is at the Flagstaff House Communications Bureau.

“I felt everything was being taken care of until the early hours of Sunday when I saw the final output, I noticed that His Excellency president Uhuru Kenyatta had been misrepresented as the president of Ghana and you have 3,000 copies so the dilemma was should the parade go ahead without the brochure, and I must state here that I took the decision that the brochure should go out and indeed the brochure went out.

“Just as I indicated, I am assuming full responsibility for the content of the brochure… I assume full responsibility,” Mr. Kwarteng Arthur added.