Omane Boamah behind ‘HAMID 1-18’ Land Cruiser propaganda - Hamid

The Minister for Information, Mustapha Abdul Hamid has accused former Minister of Communications, Dr Edward Omani Boamah of allegedly spreading falsehood about him being the owner of a custom made cross-country vehicle with a customized number plate[HAMID 1-18].

Mr Hamid while addressing journalists in Wa on Thursday, said the reason for saying that was the fact the story was first carried by a website owned by the former Communications Minister, “Ghanapolitics.com” observing that the National Democratic Congress (NDC) still thinks Ghanaians are gullible; the very thing that sent them into opposition.

He disclosed the New Patriotic Party (NPP) has set two areas of targets for the government and mentioned competence and integrity as the roadmap that will lead to the performance of the government.

These areas he said are the yardstick of the success of the government's programme implementation adding that the integrity led NPP government has set in motion a three hundred and ten (310) page report by the auditor general which has been able to save the national kitty from the loss of 5.7 billion cedis.

The Minister, therefore, urged Ghanaians particularly journalists to be circumspect when it comes to the allegations of corruption as they must not accept anything in the name of corruption allegation hook line and sinker.

Mr Hamid said Ghanaians must be praised especially with the vibrancy of the media since 1992 which has shown the level of tolerance of the leadership of the country saying “even though insults are not good it is only in Ghana that the people could insult including presidents and get away with it”.

Touching on why he was meeting the media in the region, he said it is an opportunity to learn at first hand from journalists about the performance of the government one year on and also learn from them how to move forward.

He said information collected showed that journeys embarked upon by the president alongside the Communications Director at the presidency was a move which was perceived not to be good for journalists in the region and therefore the government has stopped traveling with the Communications Director at the presidency.

According to him, it also informed the decision in the recent expansion of media participation from other regions as compared to the past where only journalists based in Accra had the opportunity to interact with the president during his media encounter.

Journalists drawn from the eleven districts of the Upper West Region asked questions relating to the poor road network, illegal felling of rosewood trees and the current situation of the television license regime.