Ghana’s Finance Minister, Ken Ofori-Atta, has urged the media to be cautious in their coverage of the economy and other national concerns so as not to jeopardise the country’s growth.
Mr. Ofori-Atta expressed alarm in his Sunday, June 18 economic update at the Ministry of Finance regarding stories in the media claiming that China will seize some of Ghana’s vital resources because the country had defaulted on its debts.
Such rumours, he added, are false and unjustified, and are a fabrication of people’s imaginations, and that Ghana has successfully worked with the Paris Club (PC) and other creditors to identify the boundaries of the country’s debt restructuring, and that China take over the country’s resources.
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“We have also successfully worked with the Paris Club (PC) and other creditors to determine the parameters of our official debt restructuring under the G20 Common Framework for Debt treatment. In the coming weeks, we will seek to complete the MOU with the OCC on the terms of bilateral debt treatment. Government will sustain engagements with private creditors on external debt to reach agreement with the private creditors in the shortest possible time. “In light of the above, we will count on all stakeholders, especially the media, to be circumspect in their reportage on the economy, to avoid derailing the progress being made. Our love of country must supersede all and as the late P.A.V Ansah, a University of Ghana communications school professor, said ‘Journalism 101 teaches media students that they have three basic roles: to inform, educate and entertain. However, for developing countries, there is a fourth: foster national cohesion. National cohesion is the foundation upon which any and everything else is built’.” “The misreporting on China was unnecessary and unfortunate. Unfounded accusations against Government Officials leading the recovery are untenable and serve no useful purpose. Undoubtedly, the need for accuracy must override speed in these circumstances,” the Finance Minister stressed.
