The Minister of Government Communications, Felix Kwakye Ofosu, has bemoaned what he describes as the “woefully inadequate” budgetary allocation to his Ministry.
He says the GH¢78 million allocation for the year will not be sufficient for the smooth operation of the three key agencies under the Ministry.
According to the Abura Asebu Kwamankese lawmaker, operations of the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC), the Information Services Department (ISD), and the Ghana News Agency (GNA) which constitute the key agencies under the Ministry will be impeded by the lesser funds.
The legislator cum Minister was speaking in Parliament Wednesday, March 19, 2025, when he made the lamentation, highlighting the critical role the three agencies play in information dissemination and maintaining media integrity.
Kwakye Ofosu noted that the key functions of the agencies in serving the public will be compromised without adequate funding.
Stating the number of persons employed under his Ministry, he noted that their salaries and other operational costs of the agencies heavily rely on government’s budgetary allocation.
The lack of sufficient funding, he argued, would affect not only salaries but also the agencies’ ability to deliver essential services.
He revealed also that GBC alone requires GH¢36 million to establish its presence in the six newly created regions, without which, he warned, would hamper its mandate of providing nationwide media coverage.
“There are three agencies that I superintend, namely the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation, the Information Services Department, and the Ghana News Agency. These three agencies alone have 2,537 civil servants, and it is these civil servants who have been allocated GH¢78 million in both goods and services,” he stated.
“Mr Speaker, it is woefully inadequate for them because the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation alone needs GH¢36 million to establish a presence in the six regions that they [the previous administration] created.”
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