Sustainable development expert Michael Ebo Amoah has slammed the government for failing to communicate on issues that have become topical recently in an effective manner.
The lecturer and political analyst opined that a lot have happened over the past few months but the government has not managed it’s communication well.
He noted that the government had been hit with several scandals including the Sputnik V vaccine purchase, the $170 million judgment debt slapped on Ghana by a London court, the #FixThecountry saga and the death of Ibrahim Mohammed and some other residents at Ejura.
He asked the government to take steps in communicating well with Ghanaians on the scandals.
“Government and NPP communicators must up their game because this is just six months into the second term of their administration, their communication approach and strategy should change, social media government communicators should engage more instead of being dismissive and abrasive. I just hope July will be different.”
Read his full piece below
Observations by Michael Ebo Amoah
Sadly the NPP government has allowed self-afflicted scandals to dominate the few good things the government has done in the month of June. A simple diagnosis of the month of June will show that the media landscape ( both government and private media, traditional and social media platforms) have washed with negative news against the government.
The first week of June started with the Sputnik V issues, second week came with issues of the presidential jet and the miscommunication from the defense minister, third week followed with the GPGC judgement debt and the negligence by some state officials and the last week of the month birthed issues of insecurity and avoidable deaths in Ejura by innocent civilians.
This trend should inform us that there will be more issues coming up, and the media and the main opposition will continue to set agenda for the government.
In all these government communicators do not appear to communicate in a way that may neutralize these issues. There seem to be a certain level of fatigue among government communicators…
On the other hand, those communicating for the main opposition parties sound convincing and confident even though some of the things they say may not be true. A recent example is how Honourable John Jinapor took on the entire government communication machinery on the issues of the judgement debt in the energy sector. Even though few of the things he said on various airwaves could be inaccurate, he sounded convincing, while government officials and communicators sounded fatigued and frustrated.
I must admit there are people who can communicate for the government and the party but are refusing to do so because of apathy or lack of information and motivation.
Government and NPP communicators must up their game because this is just six months into the second term of their administration, their communication approach and strategy should change, social media government communicators should engage more instead of being dismissive and abrasive. I just hope July will be different.
