NPP MP: Current Govt's Communication Team Only Muddies The Waters

Hon. Kobby Okyere Darko-Mensah, New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament (MP) for Takoradi has said government must set up a solid communication team to convey information from the Presidency to the public as the current communication team only muddles real issues. According to Hon. Okyere Darko-Mensah, over the year�s, government's communication team has hoodwinked messages from the Presidency due to the fact that, government doesn�t have a good structure that coordinate information. �Although this government has the worst communication team over the years, from Dr. Kwame Nkrumah right down to Prof Mills, all what we hear is there is information from the Presidency, whiles some seems to be correct, others are very appalling. What I think they (government communication team) have to do is to coordinate a lot of information because sometimes there is a difficulty at the Presidency and the Information Ministry. That is one big area that creates much problem,� he said. Citing an example to illustrate his point, the NPP MP expressed worry over how the government communication team handled the recent brouhaha regarding the renaming of the seat of Government, Jubilee Flag Staff House. �The current mishandling of issue is the Jubilee Flag Staff House. Sometimes you will ask yourself whether it is a deliberate way of testing the waters or they are just joking with the position. I think coordination is a major issue and it is time that we get it right otherwise it will continue to be a major hindrance to the development of this country,� he opined. Speaking on Accra-based Adom FM, he said he believes the president must define the role of his communication team so as not to create confusion and distortion of information. �I think most of the time the President has to define the roles of the communication clearly so that it doesn�t create a lot of problems. Most of the problems do happen because of these things. I remember those days between Koku Anyidoho and Ayariga, there was a lot of confusion. One was Director of Communication and the other was the Presidential spokesperson. I think the coordination must be defined well so that the gaps in government communication will be less,� he added. He however said it is clear that the government is confused with how they communicate. �We need a better coordination to ensure that the development of this country is on point. Communication is part of the development process of a nation,� he advised.