The days of cinema vans are gone; Mahama commits to restructure ISD
President John Mahama has pledged to transfer the Information Services Department (ISD) from the defunct Ministry of Information to the Office of the Presidency.
Speaking at the Jubilee House on Thursday, January 23, 2025, the president emphasized the need for the ISD to evolve from its current status as a civil service agency into a modern organization that ensures the public has access to information about all government activities.
“One of the things we must accomplish is to bring the Information Services Department under the presidency and modernize it from a civil service agency into a contemporary organization that guarantees the free flow of information to the public about government actions. The days of cinema vans are over. Today, we have a wide array of modern communication tools,” President Mahama noted.
He further stated, “This department needs reform. How we restructure the ISD and the Ghana News Agency is critical. By creating synergy and modernizing these organizations, they can serve as effective platforms for government communication, ensuring the public has access to as much information as possible.”
History of ISD
The Information Services Department evolved from an organisation established in the latter part of 1939 as a branch of the Colonial Government Secretariat dedicated to convey news on the 2nd World War to the people of Gold Coast.
After the war, it was renamed the Public Relations Department with an oversight responsibility for the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation, the Ghana News Agency and the Ghana Film Industry Corporation until they were de-coupled to form separate entities.
In accordance with recommendations made by the Coussey Committee constituted to investigate the 1949 disturbances, the Gold Coast Government re-organised the Department into the Department of Information, and transformed it into an effective Government information disseminating unit to bridge the communication gap between the government and the governed.
After the February 24 Revolution in 1966, the then Ministry of Information and the Department of Information Services was merged to become the Central publicity Agent of the Government.
The Department was split in 1971 to become Public Relations Secretariat and the Public Relations Department which is now known as the Ministry of Information and the Information Services Department respectively. It was re-structured to disseminate information on government policies and programmes.
