Minister says 2011 budget education on course

Accra, Nov. 29, GNA - The Minister for Information, Mr John Tia Akologu, has assured Ghanaians that public education on the 2011 national budget throughout the country is on course.

The cost of the training and public education sessions would also be made public in due course by the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning in due course in line with the policy of demonstrating transparency and accountability in the utilisation of public funds.

A statement in Accra, on Monday, signed by the Minister said the Ministry would ensure that Ghanaians understood the economic direction of the Government for 2011 and also assist the public to take advantage of the numerous opportunities presented in the government's financial statement. A training workshop had been held for Information Officers and Mobile Cinema Commentators from all districts to prepare them for the public education exercise, which commences this week, he said.

"Staff of the Information Services Department will mount educational campaigns using the Information vans in the various communities across the country," he said. "And we are confident that with the training received, the ISD staff will explain the details of the budget to our people." The Minister appealed to Ghanaians to make themselves available for the public education sessions and encouraged the Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chief Executives to create platforms for such programmes in the districts.

The education sessions will also enable the Information Officers "clarify and demystify the budget while at the same time sieve the misinformation and falsehood from the facts". In all, 360 officers of the ISD from all the 10 regions took part in the budget workshop in Accra.

Mr Akologu said in line with government's quest for accountability and transparency, the workshop was opened to the media. He pledged that information on the expenses incurred on the training of ISD personnel and the national public education campaign across the country would be made known to the public at every stage. He said though such training of ISD personnel on the National Budget had been held for many years, the Ministry of Information was being open with the activities because of the interest such activities continued to generate.

Mr Akologu said all finances and disbursements for the budget education campaign were being handled by the Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, which would be making public the cost of the campaign, including workshops conducted for 50 journalists from the Parliamentary Press Corps and 40 members of the Institute of Financial and Economic Journalists (IFEJ).

The Minister commended sections of the media and other interest groups that had focused on helping to throw more light on the 2011 National Budget through their analysis and critique. He said this would help Ghanaians grasp the actual interventions announced and the opportunities that could be tapped. Mr Akologu said some persons whose only interest were partisan and not the national interest would continue to expose themselves before all well-meaning Ghanaians. He said the Ministry would continue to focus on ensuring that it carried out its core mandate of bringing true and accurate information to Ghanaians.

Mr Akologu said the cost of the government's budget education activities was far lower than that of the previous government. He added that his Ministry was always open to any enquiries on this matter in line with the transparent and accountable governance promised as an integral component of the Better Ghana Agenda. 29 Nov. 10