Statement: Ministry of Information reacts to ¢1.6bn story

Stanislav Xoese Dogbe         The Ministry of Information wishes to state that the report in Tuesday’s Daily Guide newspaper which claimed among others that Mr. Stanislav Xoese Dogbe, a Presidential Aide attached to the Government Communications Team, has not accounted for an amount of GH¢169,000 meant for Public Education Campaign on the 2010 Budget is false. The allegations are baseless, unfounded and without merit as available records here indicate that the said fund was used for the intended purpose and the project account is awaiting validation by external auditors. Indeed, Mr. Dogbe was not in charge of disbursing the fund. The Ministry finds it unfortunate that even after Mr. Dogbe provided the newspaper with details of his role and what he knew the [about] Campaign, the newspaper went ahead to suggest that he personally carried out those activities and handled its allocated funds. It is even more absurd when the newspaper claimed that the money was spent on Christmas hampers. As Minister for Information, the reporter and the newspaper did not contact my office on the allegations. The Ministry also wishes to state that the Acting Director of the Information Services Department (ISD), Nee Agiri Barnor, has not been sidelined as claimed by the newspaper. To the contrary, we have and will continue to work effectively with staff of the Department. The Minister believes in teamwork and has been sparing no effort at building an efficient and effective team to manage government’s communication. John TIA AKOLOGU MINISTER FOR INFORMATION [Tuesday September 14, 2010] Joy FM