Potrog is missing and Jubilee House Communication is dysfunctional

The President of the Republic of Ghana – POTROG – is missing; he has been missing for at least 72 hours.

We the people must hear and see our president; we cannot trust the photograph issued by Eugene Arhin, Director of Communications at the Jubilee House, Accra; that photo could have been taken any day within the past 10 weeks.

Besides we refuse to accept that our President will be seated at a table with used face masks lying on it.

Kojo Oppong Nkrumah, the Minister for Information recently issued a “STATEMENT” that said President Akufo-Addo was “from today, July 4, 2020, taking a fourteen (14) day precautionary self-isolation”.

The minister added that “at least one person within his close circle” had tested COVID-19 positive.

What does this mean? Has Noguchi lost count? Is the “We are following the science and the data” strategy no longer working? How about the political science and “social science”?

No doubt the lack of clarity led to rumours (with the caveat “eagle eyes check the veracity of this info for us”) that POTROG had been flown to the UK that same night.

This generated frantic social media conversations and concerns about verification.

It was as a rebuttal that Eugene Arhin, Director of Communications at the Jubilee House released a photograph with a text saying the president was here in Accra.

Now what should we tell our students when they ask the necessary searching questions? Our students include foreigners who do not care whose ox is gored.

There are countless questions which dent the credibility of Arhin’s rebuttal including:

Where was this photograph taken?;

How do we know for sure that POTROG is self-isolating at the Jubilee House?;

Why does the communication team not organise a live televised interview with Ghana Broadcasting Corporation, in which there could be establishment shots that clearly indicate his whereabouts?;

Is the president their bona fide property?;

What are they hiding him for?; and

Do these poliTRIKcians have any respect for the taxpayer?

Beyond the questions, it would have been most appropriate to place the day’s newspaper in the hands of POTROG to show at least that earlier in the day – there was sunlight through the windows – the president was hale and hearty.

Still, more than 72 hours later, there has been no coherent strategy to improve upon the public relations management effort, an essential matter which should assure the taxpayer that our President and Commander-in-Chief is here.

Yes, commander-in-chief of regular professional troops; and the selfless frontliners working in the trenches against the carnage caused by the COVID-iots.

Jubilee House Communications we implore you, our students are learning; they are in exam mode in a COVID-19 hotspot country so the stakes are even higher, and neither they nor their lecturers will accept mediocrity; everything done must be at the highest professional standard.

My mentor has observed that far too often, the quality of communication that comes from the Jubilee House only confirms that, “Our people major in the minor leagues; they are not ready for prime time”.

Can we prove him wrong?

We certainly can if we subscribe to the following: “The VISION …… IS TO SEE individuals and organisations communicate with clarity and precision towards fashioning A BETTER WORLD, BASED ON EQUALITY AND MUTUAL RESPECT beginning with Ghana”.

And we should all by now recognise where this comes from.

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