Kwakye-Ofosu dismisses claims media fund has been embezzled.

 

A Deputy Minister of Information, Felix Kwakye Ofosu, has refuted assertions that the Media Development Fund set up by government has been mismanaged.

The Fund was created in 2011 with an initial 1 million Ghana cedis to help the development of the Ghanaian media.

However, there have been concerns about how the fund is being utilized, after it emerged the fund was used to buy laptops for journalists.

Responding to these concerns at a ceremony to mark World Press Freedom Day, Mr. Kwakye Ofosu said whilst people are free to suggest how the funds could be used it is completely unacceptable for anybody to suggest the monies have been embezzled.

"You can say that rather than purchasing ICT gadgets to assist the work of media practitioners you could perhaps have invested it in further training and capacity building.

"That argument is entirely separate from saying that the resources that were accrued to the fund were misapplied and in some cases embezzled.

"That is the most unfortunate perception," he protested.

He called for thorough dialogue to arrive at a common ground on exactly what use to put the grant so that all stakeholders will be satisfied.

This year’s World Press Freedom Day is being marked today under the theme, “Development journalism, Media safety and Integrity”.

Source: myjoyonline