The Minister of Communications, Dr. Edward Omane Boamah, has told the management and staff of the Ghana Investment Fund for Electronic Communications (GIFEC), to rely on each other and pull together individual strengths to deliver the organization’s mandate.

The Minister said this at the opening ceremony of the 2016 edition of GIFEC’s annual retreat for staff members, adding that, “It is also important that before we leave here we would begin to see ourselves not as individuals on a quixotic mission; nor as separate units, struggling on our own, against all odds.” 

He said that the essence of the retreat was to conduct a critical analysis of the past achievements, look at the programmes for 2016 and the immediate future and ask whether as a team, we are achieving the objectives of the Fund’s mandate. 

“In a world of growing challenges, vulnerability and shrinking budgets, we cannot afford to not stand together or work in isolation or let divisions stand in the way of harnessing the strength in our single GIFEC team. When this happens, we would be doing a disservice to the people and the Information Communications Technology (ICT), development mandate we serve.

He congratulated GIFEC for the various achievements chalked over the years, adding that a lot of projects have been lined up for execution this year and entreated that the procurement activity begin early to avoid delays in project implementation.

Mr. Kwabena Owusu Akyeampong, the Administrator of GIFEC said that the essence of the retreat, among other things, was for staff to be abreast with activities planned for the year in order to remain focused on the task. 

He said considering the fact that 2016 is a critical political year it was of essence that “The project implementation paradigm be adhered, in order to ensure services are delivered to clients within a certain time frame.” 

The two-day retreat dubbed “time for reflection and renewal”, was held at the Raybow Hotel in Takoradi.

GIFEC is an implementing agency under the Ministry of Communications, whose mandate is to provide Universal Access to Electronic Communications to promote social and economic development of the people, through best practices.