Weija footbridge vindicates Graphic
The gate was the only access route for the pupils to reach their schools at Weija and its surrounding communities.
When the story made the headlines, hell broke loose in the corridors of power at the Ministry of Water Resources, Works and Housing, the Greater Accra Coordinating Council and the Ga South Municipal Assembly.
The Daily Graphic team was called names, such as nationwreckers and saboteurs who wanted to use the newspaper to dent the image of the government as not being responsive to the needs of the people.
They also said that the reporter and the photographer had cooked the report and the visuals by helping the schoolchildren to climb the gates with piercing bars to arouse public anger against the government.
We knew that truth was on our side and, therefore, we persisted in bringing the plight of the children to the court of public opinion.
Thankfully, the Ministry of Transport provided the children with a bus from the Metro Mass Transit Company to carry them to and from school.
We were convinced that our story was the truth and that in reality the schoolchildren were going through hell in pursuit of basic education.
That was not all the story. Some other children risked their lives by sitting in canoes to cross the Weija Dam to school.
Even as the authorities tried to rationalise their action of preventing the children from using the premises of the dam as a thoroughfare, that decision resulted in about 250 pupils dropping out of school.
But, today, the Ga South Municipal Assembly has constructed a 40-metre footbridge over the River Densu to facilitate easy access to school by the pupils.
As a newspaper, our mandate includes drawing attention to development challenges in society, in the hope that the authorities will provide the necessary interventions to improve the well-being of the people.
In discharging this onerous responsibility, there will be occasions when we shall stir controversy and disagreement over what actions must be taken to achieve desirable changes in society.
The Daily Graphic states clearly today that we do not harbour any ill motive against the government, government agencies and stakeholders in the pursuit of the country’s development goals.
We are just determined to provide a channel of communication for the government and the people to exchange ideas.
Through the media, the government is able to reach out to the people with its programmes and policies and at the same time use the media to gauge public reaction to its activities.
It is not everybody in government who thinks the media are enemies of progress. Many government functionaries value the role of the media in national development, as well as holding public officials accountable and responsible for their actions.
Article 162 Clause (5) states that “All agencies of the mass media shall at all times be free to uphold the principles, provisions and objectives of the Constitution and shall uphold the responsibility and accountability of the government to the people of Ghana”.
This mandate is not negotiable if we have to contribute our quota to nation-building.
Be that as it may, we congratulate the Ga South Municipal Assembly on responding to the needs of the children.
We assure the assembly that it can count on the Daily Graphic as a partner in development.
Daily Graphic/Ghana