That the John Mahama-led National Democratic Congress government’s communication strategyis unbefitting of a governing party poised to deflate distortions and absolute lies being churned out by political adversaries in pursuit of dislodging it from power is a grave understatement.
But for party activists’ timely exploits on social media platforms;continually exposing the New Patriotic Party’s propaganda, the biggest opposition party would have had a field day throwing more mud at government and,would have succeeded in blurring the achievements of the Mahama government than they have presently done.
In most instances where the NPP and their media collaborators concoct half-truths intended to set agenda for a particularly week in order to push government on the defensive, it was mostly the NDC social media communicators, especially those on facebook, who respond spontaneously with compelling facts and evidence to counter the distortions.
This has in some cases raised questions about the management of government and party communications at a time the opposition is desperately and busily painting the Mahama government in dark colors in order to win the hearts of majority of Ghanaians.
It is no secret that both government and NDC party official communicators on most occasions gave-in to untruths peddled by functionaries of the opposition NPP principally because they were either not adequately prepared or information on the said subject was not readily available.
There were also many instances where it had to take NDC social media commentators to come to the rescue of government when it came under severe censure from the public by virtue of deliberate distortions put out by NPP and its allies in the media, academia, clergy and civil society among others.
Last week, it had to take facebook communicators of the party to expose Nana Akufo-Addo’s “lies” that President Mahama has so far commissioned only five out of his 200 promised community day senior high schools.
This was followed with a detailed press statement by a youth group affiliated to the party, #IChooseJM, which is made up of mainly social media communicators of the governing party.
Cataloguing places the president has commissioned the completed community day SHS with their dates of commissioning, the group stated that 10 of such schools have so far been commissioned and many others at advanced stages of completion.
This was after Nana Akufo-Addo told NPP supporters at a rally atKwabenya that President John Mahama has only commissioned five of such schools to emphasized government cannot fulfill that campaign pledge.
In all of this, government and party communicators looked on helpless while communicators of the NPP and their ilk berated President Mahama for reneging on his promise to build 200 community day Senior High Schools.
Evidence abound of how social media communicators took on NPP and their collaborators over false claims about government and eventually succeeded in getting them to abandon the scandalous falsehoods.
Following this development, many have questioned the effectiveness and preparedness of government and party communicators to respond adequately to the many half-truths and blatant lies in the media.
In some instances where the party and government communicators are caught flat footed in countering opposition falsehood in the media, it wasPresident Mahama himself,whorespondedappropriately.
Last month, the president had to take to twitter to counter false reportage by the state owned Daily Graphic that government intended taxing pension funds. The president’s statement was subsequently circulated widelyby social media communicators to dispel the dangerous rumor.
When the issue about the President receiving a Ford Expedition gift from a Burkinabe contractor broke, it was NDC social media communicators who deflated all attempts to impute wrong doing on the part of the president before the Communications Ministry issued statement clarifying the issue.
Many have said that if government and NDC communication units had been more effective as their social media counterparts, claims of government ineptness in finding solutions to the myriad of challenges facing the country would long have been parried.
Over the weekend, Managing Editor of Insight newspaper, Kwesi Pratt Jnr had cause to question the preparedness of government and party communicators ahead of the presidential and parliamentary elections in November this year.
Mr. Pratt,in a damning verdict on the NDC government/partycommunicators, urged them to up their game if they are keen on seeing a second term for President Mahama.
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