The Information Services Department (ISD) mobile van rollout was fully conceived and carried out under the previous New Patriotic Party (NPP) government, according to former Akufo-Addo administration officials who have refuted allegations that the current administration is responsible for it.
This comes after a video that went viral showed Rita Akosua Awatey, the Eastern Regional Minister, commissioning two ISD mobile vans at the Eastern Regional Coordinating Council. John Dramani Mahama’s government was credited with making the remarks.
As part of a larger ISD retooling program started during the COVID-19 outbreak, the 40 ISD Information Vans were fully conceived, contracted, acquired, and delivered under the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia administration, according to former Information Minister Kojo Oppong Nkrumah.
He clarified that the Ministry of Finance received the Project Concept Note (PCN) in 2022 and approved it on October 3, 2023.
After that, in June 2024, a commencement warrant was granted, allowing technical teams from the State Transport Company (STC), ISD, and Ministry of Information to visit China to examine the cars.
He claims that although the vans were supposed to reach Ghana in October 2024, they were delayed and finally reached the Tema Port on November 19, 2024.
The former minister emphasised that the program was intended to improve community sensitisation and public education, especially in remote and difficult-to-reach areas where conventional outreach methods have deteriorated despite the expansion of electronic media.
He described the new vans as a huge initiative to revitalise grassroots public communication, pointing out that the ISD had not had a major fleet upgrade since 2007 under then-Information Minister Dan Botwe.
As a result, its members have acknowledged the Akufo-Addo administration, which was headed by former President Nana Akufo-Addo and former Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia, as the project’s creators.
The previous officials questioned why the current Ministry for Government Communications has not made the project’s origin publicly clear, criticising what they see as misattribution of credit.
A source close to the former team stated that “facts are sacred” and that all supporting documentation for shipment, procurement, and approvals is available.
They went on to say that the circumstance emphasises the significance of accountability and governance continuity in the provision of public infrastructure.
As opposing viewpoints on who should be in charge of the effort are presented, the subject continues to spark political debate.
Source: newsthemegh.com