The machinery of state may grind forward, but if its gears turn in silence, the nation remains deaf to its progress.
In the theatre of governance, it is a fatal conceit to assume that good work speaks for itself. It does not. It requires a voice, not the hollow echo of a press release, but the resonant pulse of a narrative that captures the national imagination.
While the central Government Communications apparatus paints the broad canvas of national direction, the duty of detail falls to the Ministries, Departments, and Agencies. They are the custodians of their own legacies. Yet, through a marriage of inertia and tactical blindness, many choose a self-inflicted invisibility or unstrategic visibility.
By failing to narrate their journey, they inadvertently signal to the populace that they are embarked on no journey at all. Silence in high office is not modesty; it is a confession of perceived insignificance.
The Chasm Between News and Narrative
In 2025, we witnessed the power of the proactive. We saw leaders who understood that to govern is to communicate.
From the diplomatic corridors of the Foreign Affairs Ministry under Hon. Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa to the industrial fields of the Tree Crops Development Authority led by Dr Andy Osei Okrah, certain officials refused to be mere footnotes in the daily bulletin.
They drove their stories with a dynamism that demanded attention. They did not wait for the news to find them; they defined what the news meant for the average Ghanaian.
Let us be clear: publicity is not public relations. Every official is chased by a camera; every event is catalogued by a journalist. But hard facts, stripped of context and delivered without soul, are like shadows at noon, present for a moment, then swallowed by the light.
A Minister may commission a bridge or a school, but if the people do not feel the weight of the “Reset” in every brick, the event is forgotten before the ribbon hits the ground. To appear in the news is a mere occurrence, but to live in the consciousness of the stakeholders is an achievement of strategy.
How many Ghanaians can truly articulate the transformation within our schools, our farms, or our housing sectors beyond the fleeting headlines? If the answer is “few,” the failure is not one of policy, but of poetry.
The hard news coverage of today melts into the oblivion of tomorrow unless it is anchored by a compelling narrative that connects the local struggle to the national triumph.
The Danger of the Sycophantic Echo
There is a recurring tragedy in our political cycle. At the dusk of every administration, the refrain is always the same: we did the work, but we didn’t tell the story well enough. It is a post-mortem of regret that could have been a manifesto of triumph.
One must not be deceived by the chorus of sycophants who inhabit the inner sanctum. They see the effort because they stand in the shadow of power; the nation, however, stands in the sun, waiting for a sign of progress that resonates.
Appearing in the news is a reflex; strategic communication is an art. If you do not hire the architects of narrative today, do not complain when your opponents become the historians of your failure tomorrow.
Do not wait until 2028 to flood the media with noise that the public has already trained itself to ignore. Communication is not the same as talking, and frequency of appearance is not a substitute for strategic depth.
The Call to Reset the Narrative
Every District Assembly and every CEO must now ask: Who is telling our story? How are we resetting the administration of our lands, our transport, and our social welfare?
If the narrative is not being shaped by dynamically competent professionals, it is being distorted by the vacuum of your silence. The Land Commission, for instance, must articulate its reset not just as a bureaucratic shift, but as a restoration of dignity to the landowner.
The path forward requires a shift from the reactive “Information Officer” mindset to the “Strategic Partner” level. Every action must be tethered to the overarching national vision, making the local effort globally relevant.
Narrative is a marathon, not a sprint, and a flood of information on the eve of an election is often dismissed as the desperate gasps of the departing. The choice is simple: improve your PR departments and seek the help of professionals to tell your story with the precision of a surgeon, or let your silence become the weapon your detractors use to bury your achievements.
Author: Raymond Ablorh
Email: [email protected]
0244 040 803
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