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In This Issue...Links to the News:
March 11, 2016
"ON THE THRESHOLD OF A TWIN
JUBILEE"
A GNA Feature by Mohammed Nurudeen Issahaq
Bolgatanga, Nov. 15, GNA - That this beautiful nation Ghana
has a twin sister is a historical fact that has been lost to
a significant majority of our countrymen over the decades.
The "Osagyefo," Dr. Kwame Nkrumah of blessed memory, gave
birth to this senior twin sister several hours before Ghana
"came into being". The Ghana News Agency was born on March
5, 1957, with no less a personality than Dr. Nkrumah himself
performing the official naming ceremony.
"I foresee the day when, in the press of the World, any news
item warranted by the initial GNA will find an
unchallengeable place in any newspaper of standing, wherever
it may be," the visionary Leader predicted.
He had personally involved the
reputable British news agency, Reuters, in the establishment
of this brainchild, which, as he put it, "would tell the
African story through the eyes of the African."
Just as he catapulted Ghana on to the forefront of the
African liberation struggle, the dream of the nation's First
Head of State was to nurture that the GNA, the first news
agency in Sub-Saharan Africa, into an instrument to counter
the biased and distorted image of the African Continent by
the world's giant news organizations, the same incidence the
Continent's Leaders continue to complain about today.
So it came to pass that from a modest start with three
reporters and a skeletal back-up staff, the GNA grew and
establish links with a wide range of major news agencies and
wire service networks across the globe, telling the Ghanaian
story as it was; selling Ghana abroad and spreading the
gospel of African unity. For as long as its father and
founder lived, the Agency lacked no resources. And
reciprocally, it discharged its mandate satisfactorily,
never compromising its cardinal principles of accuracy,
speed, objectivity, timeliness and professionalism.
Since it came into existence, no other media organization,
print or electronic, has covered Ghana as extensively as the
GNA. With Regional Offices, District Correspondents and
Stringers throughout the nation, this undisputable news
leader has brought to the notice of Ghanaians and the
outside world important events from the remotest rural
communities; it has documented the actions, hopes,
aspirations, fears and frustrations of the people as they
have unfolded, not for once reneging on its sacred duty to
uphold national unity and cohesion. With the devotion of a
loyal ally the GNA has been there for successive governments
since the First Republic, discharging its role in conveying
government policy to the people and relaying back to
Government the people's views.
In spite of this unflinching service, the Agency's story has
been one of relegation and deprivation since the exit of the
Nkrumah regime. Most of the politicians, who came onto the
scene subsequently appended it a lower status, exhibiting a
take it or leave it attitude when it came to the allocation
of resources to the GNA. As a matter of fact, its continued
existence to date has been largely due to divine
intervention, as the Agency came very close to liquidation
under one of the previous regimes. Talks about privatizing
and commercializing that kept emanating from the corridors
of power only went to reinforce speculations that the
Agency's fate hanged in a balance.
The situation assumed crisis proportions, and was worsened
by the unfortunate perception among some politicians and
academicians who, in a rare display of ignorance about the
actual role of a news agency, sought to suggest that the
emergence of the Internet had rendered the national wire
service redundant.
However, good reason prevailed and it soon dawned on all
concerned that the net does not conjure stories, so
therefore media outlets like the GNA must stay around to
gather news especially from remote areas like
Bantafarigu-Farfar in the Upper East Region and
Coaltar-Anfatefi in the Eastern Region before those of us in
the cities can find them on the Internet.
In the same vein, and contrary to some ill-informed public
conception, the emergence of private newspapers and FM radio
stations does not in anyway diminish the relevance of GNA.
In fact, the Agency's leading role in news dissemination has
been reinforced. On the average about 90 per cent of the
news read over these private radio stations emanate from the
GNA. That is the reason why all the radio station read the
same news.
The advent of the present Government, which by every
indication is media friendly, and the appointment of Mr Dan
Botwe to the Information Ministry brought a renewed hope
among the Management and staff of the Agency - and
justifiably too. During his brief stay in the Ministry, Mr
Botwe's performance rating cannot be paralleled by any other
before him as far as the GNA is concerned.
This writer has worked as a rural reporter in the Upper East
for a quarter of a century and for all those years, Mr Botwe
has been the only Information Minister so far to set foot in
the GNA's district offices there, to see at first hand the
conditions under which journalists in the Region worked.
That show of concern alone was a huge achievement. This was
a sentiment unanimously expressed by all media
representatives in Bolgatanga, whose premises he visited.
Added to this gesture was the action initiated by the Former
Minister to provide a pickup vehicle for each of the GNA's
10 regional offices nationwide to facilitate their
newsgathering effort, particularly when it comes to reaching
the rural areas where about three-quarters of the nation's
population reside.
Over the years GNA reporters in the Districts, driven by the
passion to serve the nation, have had to climb on ramshackle
market trucks and travel on some of the most hazardous
roads/tracks imaginable to cover news events in remote
villages. Although Mr Botwe did not remain in the Ministry
of Information and National Orientation long enough to
accomplish this goal, workers of the Agency have similar
faith in the goodwill of his successor, Mr Kwamena Bartels.
About four months from now Ghana and her twin sister, the
GNA, would be celebrating their 50th year of existence but
just what would the celebration look like? In traditional
Ghanaian society, twins are regarded as one in body, mind
and soul. Their destinies are believed to be inter-woven;
each sharing the other's joy or pain; fortune or misfortune;
successes or failures thoughts and emotions. The case we are
looking at here, however, presents an entirely different
picture. The life of one twin sister is a long chain of
achievements, opulence and satisfaction while that of the
other twin is a tale of headaches, virtual starvation and
never-ending tribulation.
Her chequered history, notwithstanding, Ghana has undeniably
made giant strides during the past half century, chalking
enviable achievements on the political, social and economic
fronts. The same, however, cannot be said about the GNA
whose life has witnessed a progressively downward trend,
particularly in the second half of those 50 years.
A constantly dwindling subvention, delayed salaries arising
from late arrival of the monthly subvention;
none-replacement of the few overused computers and other
essential work tools that give rise to the loss of job
satisfaction; the complicated bureaucracy that makes the
release of funds to the Agency painfully cumbersome and the
general lack of that essential element of motivation needed
to galvanise the rank and file to go the extra mile, all go
to sum up the GNA story.
For those who knew the Agency's once vibrant newsroom in the
days of Mr T.B. Otie and K.B. Brown, the spectacle it
presents today is one of shocking disbelief. The frustration
and desperation resulting from the aforementioned factors
have driven many of the good men and women into other
establishments that are capable of offering material
comfort. But that is not the way things were meant to be.
Notwithstanding the turbulent times it has been through, the
GNA continues to look into the future with hope. A glance at
the sunny side of things gives a reassuring indication that
all is not lost yet, as a significant number of dedicated
good hands are still around. Given the needed support and
encouragement, the current Management under the leadership
of the General Manager, Nana Appau Duah, is capable of
steering the nation's only wire service out of the woods and
taking it to glorious shores, where it is destined to berth.
Since Ghana and the GNA were meant to share a common destiny
in the vision of the Founder of this great nation, it would
be important for the Government to recognize the important
place GNA occupies in our national life.
Its establishment was part of a comprehensive communications
policy that sought to harness the information arm of the
State to build a viable, cohesive nation, a quest, which
remains very relevant today as it did about 50 years ago. It
was also meant to help to mobilize the people for economic
and social development, as well as reinforce/consolidate the
sense of belonging and common identity among the people of
Ghana, an objective which is more relevant now than ever
before, considering the recent upsurge of apathy,
ethnocentricity, unnecessary polarisation and other social
divisions that constitute a menace to national integration.
No matter from what angle one looks at it, therefore,
revamping the Ghana News Agency would remain a crucial part
of the national development agenda, and in deed, one of the
greatest legacies the present Government can leave behind
for posterity is to rededicate itself to revitalizing this
important national asset, taking a cue from the support
governments in other countries such as Britain, France and
China to mention a few, have continued to give to the
BBC/Reuters; AFP and Xinhua news agencies.
For starters, Government should as a matter of urgency, work
out a comprehensive package towards the re-engineering of
the GNA as part of the "Ghana @ 50" agenda and as part of
the way forward. As a matter of fact, there is a feeling
among the entire GNA workforce that if there is ever the
chance that the fortunes of GNA could change for the better,
it is now or never.
A colleague from GNA told me in confidence the other day
that while on leave at his village he had gone to consult an
Oracle. Among other things, the Oracle said the spirit of
President Nkrumah was shuttling restlessly between the
Mausoleum at High Street and the GNA offices on Kinbu Road,
lamenting over the helpless state this precious child of his
now found herself.
Restoring the Agency to the vibrant news organization it
once was among its peers worldwide, therefore, is both a
spiritual duty and a social imperative for the ruling
Government. Appeasing the spirit of the nation's Founder
would confer lots of blessing on the Government and immense
benefits on Ghana - thus declareth the Oracle.
GNA
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