A Deputy General Secretary of the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) Kofi Adams is suggesting an immediate ban on ministers who appear on radio and television stations to explain government policies. Instead, Mr. Adams wants the Information Ministry to be doing all the talking at least between now and the end of the 2012 elections. The Deputy General Secretary said this was what the government needed to do now to stem contradictions which usually occur when different voices speak to government policies. “Once you are on a programme, every issue that come up if you make a pronouncement it is considered as a government position if you also refuse to comment it also comes as if government is doing nothing or doesn’t know its left from its right. That is why the Ministry of Information should be allowed to co-ordinate government communications and activities,” Kofi Adams told Joy FM’s Seth Kwame Boateng. He said ministers should be explaining government policies on the field and not on television or radio. Commenting on the issue, a lecturer at the School of Communication Studies of the University of Ghana, Dr Audrey Gadzekpo said although Kofi Adams had a point, it remains critical that ministers speak on certain issues because they have a better grasp of the issues. She said even if the Ministry of Information were to be made to co-ordinate government information, questions still remained about how to incorporate the President and Vice President’s spokespersons. Dr Gadzekpo emphasised the need for the government to determine the category of information that should be handled by the Information Ministry and those to be left in the hands of other spokespersons. Source: Joy News/Ghana