The Minister-Designate for Information, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah says Cabinet has given approval in principle to procure communication vans for the Information Services Department (ISD).

The move, he explained, is to ensure the effective dissemination of information to the masses in order for them to appreciate government policies.

According to him, all the ISD offices within the 216 Municipals and Districts are expected to benefit from the initiative.

Mr Oppong Nkrumah made this known when taking his turn at the Appointments Committee of Parliament on Thursday.

“The big thing that we want to do in this second term and God willing if we have your grace to be approved, is to complete the retooling of the Information Services Department, at the last Cabinet meeting of the Akufo-Addo administration in the last tenure, we got approval in principle to go into the provision of Communication Vans for the ISD across the country and to assist in retooling, I believe it will make a major difference especially in these extraordinary times in getting the message to the ground and in this second term, it will be one of the major things that I will be focussed on doing for the department,” Oppong Nkrumah stressed.

“Another thing I believe I would like to do in this second term is to help grow a lot more spokespersons for various sectors who are skilled in the various areas and can speak authoritatively or provide information authoritatively so that citizens can get served with quality information; information you can trust but from people who are also experts in this area,” the Minister-designate for Information told the Appointments Committee.

The Ofoase-Ayirebi MP said government in the yet to be presented 2021 budget will make an allocation for that purpose.

“Our expectation is that in the 2021 budget in the medium-term expenditure framework it will be accommodated, my prayer will be that when it comes, I get the support and advocacy of the House so that we get the resources to make this a reality,” the well-spoken Minister-designate for Information said.