A fresh political controversy has erupted over the commissioning of new Information Services Department (ISD) mobile cinema vans in the Eastern Region after former Information Minister, Fatimatu Abubakar, accused the current administration of attempting to claim credit for a project initiated and completed under the Akufo-Addo government.
The dispute follows the commissioning of two ultra-modern ISD mobile vans by Eastern Regional Minister, Rita Akosua Adjei Awatey, during a ceremony at the Eastern Regional Coordinating Council.
During the event, the Regional Minister described the vehicles as part of efforts to modernise public education and information dissemination across communities in the region.
She stated that the Information Services Department had evolved significantly from the era of gong-gong beating and megaphones and that the new cinema vans would help improve communication and community engagement, especially in rural areas.
Rita Awatey also reportedly expressed appreciation to President John Dramani Mahama for supporting efforts to strengthen public information dissemination nationwide.
However, the ceremony has triggered sharp criticism from former officials of the previous New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration, who insist that the project was fully conceptualised, procured and delivered under the Akufo-Addo/Bawumia government.
In a strongly worded public statement, Fatimatu Abubakar argued that the 40 ISD mobile information vans formed part of a broader retooling programme initiated after the COVID-19 pandemic under the leadership of former Information Minister, Kojo Oppong Nkrumah.
According to her, the project was designed to revitalise the Information Services Department and improve public education campaigns in remote communities where access to information remains limited despite the growth of electronic media and digital technology.
She disclosed that the Project Concept Notice for the procurement was submitted to the Ministry of Finance in 2022 and subsequently received official approval on October 3, 2023.
Following approval, she explained, the Ministry of Information received a commencement warrant from the Ministry of Finance in June 2024 to begin implementation of the project.
Fatimatu Abubakar further stated that a delegation comprising officials from the Ministry of Information, the Information Services Department and technical experts from the State Transport Corporation (STC) travelled to China in 2024 to inspect the vehicles before shipment to Ghana.
According to her, the vans were initially expected to arrive in Ghana in October 2024 but were delayed and eventually arrived at the Tema Port on November 19, 2024.
The former Minister argued that the project was a direct response to longstanding logistical challenges affecting the Information Services Department’s ability to conduct community sensitisation and public education exercises in rural Ghana.
She noted that although ISD’s mobile public education programmes historically played an important role in community engagement, years of underinvestment had weakened the department’s operational capacity.
According to her, the last major fleet acquisition for the Information Services Department occurred in 2007 during the tenure of former Information Minister, Dan Botwe.
Fatimatu Abubakar questioned why the current administration and the Minister responsible for Government Communications had remained silent about the origin of the project while regional authorities publicly attributed it to the Mahama administration.
She argued that governance should be viewed as a continuum where successive governments acknowledge and build upon projects inherited from previous administrations rather than attempting to politically appropriate them.
“What happened to the phrase governance is a continuum?” she questioned.
The controversy has reopened broader political debates in Ghana regarding the tendency of successive governments to either rename, rebrand or claim ownership of projects initiated by previous administrations.
Both the NPP and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) have historically accused each other of politicising state infrastructure and public sector projects instead of recognising continuity in governance.
Despite the political controversy surrounding the commissioning, officials within the Information Services Department are hopeful that the new vans will improve public education, health awareness campaigns and civic engagement activities across the country.
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