Give airtime, front pages to health experts, not NPP, NDC commentators – Oppong Nkrumah tells media houses

Information Minister, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah has urged media houses to give platforms to health experts and professionals who are helping the country to alleviate the scourge of the novel coronavirus instead of party communicators.

According to him, though such communicators have over the years played several roles in national discourses, the existing global situation at this point is a call to halt such activities on air.

He said what Ghanaians need in this period is education on safety precautionary measures and how to stay safe, not political gimmicks and propaganda.

While addressing Ghanaians at the Minister’s press briefing in Accra, April 14, 2020, Oppong Nkrumah said the enormous airtime and front pages allocated to social commentators must rather be given to health experts whose aims are to complement government’s effort in disseminating information about how to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus.

He emphasized; "...Now is not the time to give airtime to social commentators, who purport to know everything about everything, now is not the time to empanel NDC and NPP...We all like politics but that can wait, don't give NPP and NDC communicators airtime now. Now is the time to give airtime and front pages to the doctors, scientists, epidemiologists for them to talk about the science and facts to guide people..."

Meanwhile, Ghana has achieved another stride in its case management of confirmed COVID-19 cases as the nation has now recorded 17 full recoveries and 66 additional patients expected to go through the second round of testing.

However, the case count still stands at 566 with 8 confirmed deaths