Government calls for media support to Better Ghana Agenda

Tamale, June 6, GNA - Mr Baba Jamal, Deputy Minister of Information h= as call for the support of the media to promote the 93Better Ghana" develop= ment agenda, saying 93you (media) are the instrument of development".

He said the media weather pro or anti-government were always welcome to partner the Government in the paradigm shift of development, which would se= e the press paying attention to developmental journalism instead of the often concentration on political issues. Mr Jamal was addressing journalists in Tamale on Sunday as part of his nationwide tour aimed at galvanizing the support of the fourth estate of th= e realm for effective democratic development.

His tour has so far taken him to the Upper West, Upper East and Norther= n Regions. He said Government welcomed constructive criticisms but such must take into consideration the professional ethics of journalism that required practitioners to cross-check facts before publishing. Mr Jamal said the Government in its quest to be non-discriminative in the media landscape had considered some media houses perceived as anti-government in its activities and had even included most of them in the President's foreign travels.

Touching on the style of the governance, he said the President wanted sanity to prevail in the country and had not prosecuted anybody=85 adding t= hat NPP members were not enemies to the NDC but rather brothers and sisters. He said it was only in Ghana that the ruling government and the opposition could sit together and deliberate on election matters all due to the prevailing peace and press freedom which all must protect. The Deputy Minister announced that the government would soon role out a nationwide re-branding programme to ensure that all data relating to the country were available on a website such that any investor could get all details about the regions and districts. Mr Moses Bukari Mabengba, Northern Regional Minister, lauded the excellent working relationship between the Regional Coordinating Council an= d the media in the region and urged them to continue that cordiality.