A USEFUL ENCOUNTER (JAN 8, 2011)

THE 1992 Constitution enjoins the media to uphold the responsibility and accountability of the Government to the people of Ghana.
Some of the key drivers of good governance are accountability, transparency and the participation of the people in the decision-making process.
Therefore, for the activities of any government to be known to the people, the President and his appointees must engage the people in constant dialogue so that the people can demand answers to how the government is keeping its social contract with the electorate.
The President’s encounter with the media at the seat of government, the Castle, Osu, yesterday must have been informed by his desire to reach out to the people. Before the encounter, there were very nagging questions agitating the minds of majority of the people.
The President had declared 2011 an action year and, not long after that, petrol prices were adjusted upwards by between 25 and 30 per cent, followed by a Cabinet reshuffle the next day. These major policy interventions required further explanations.
The upward adjustment in the prices of petroleum products especially was greeted with a lot of hue and cry by transport operators, the travelling public, labour unions and industrialists who felt that petroleum prices were on the high side.
The media encounter was, therefore, in the right direction to enable the President to engage the public in a discourse on those pressing national issues.
By all standards the media took the President through a grilling session and he also acquitted himself well by being forthright with his responses and the rationale behind some of the policy interventions he had taken to achieve the government’s Better Ghana agenda.
We concede that not every Ghanaian would be satisfied with the responses from him but his answers had helped Ghanaians to better appreciate the direction of the government.
Yesterday’s encounter may not be the last and also does not close the door on future interactions between the media and the Presidency and other functionaries of the government.
The media are a very powerful tool for development and if they are properly harnessed, they can galvanise the people for nation building. They can also be a lethal weapon in the hands of misguided elements in society, hence our appeal to all journalists to use the media for the public good.
As the President said, the media should focus on the national interest and the public good. We think journalists are at liberty to take issues with the government but, in doing so, one thing must be paramount — they should provide information, education and entertainment that is wholesome for the public weal.
The DAILY GRAPHIC congratulates the President on the second anniversary of his tenure and hopes that the channels of communication between the Presidency and the entire Ghanaian society will be open, so that the people can engage the President in constructive dialogue.
That is the only way the people can be in tune with the declaration of 2010 as an action year in line with the Better Ghana agenda.