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Intellectuals urged not to shy away
from discourse of national import
Accra, July 25, Ghanadot – Speaking at the launch of
the Ghana Policy Journal, Mrs. Mary Chinery-Hesse, Chief
Advisor to the President, has urged intellectuals and
professionals with requisite knowledge on issues of national
importance being discussed in the public domain not to shy away
from the discourse.
She said by shying away to join
the silent majority of docile listeners, they left the scene
for those who might not be knowledgeable to fill the vacuum.
“They should not feel shy to participate in this manner, and
they should not consider the sharing of information through
the media as demeaning of high academic achievement.”
Mrs. Chinery-Hesse said although
public discourse had been tainted with political posturing,
which made it difficult for the population to differentiate
fact from fiction, intellectuals and professionals were not
helping the situation by opting out of the debate on
critical issues.
She said it was necessary for
the intellectuals and professionals to continue to educate
the public on issues they had expertise on.
The Ghana Policy Journal is the publication of the Institute
of Economic Affairs, a public policy think-tank, aimed to
arouse discussions of views from a wide range of scholars
dealing with policy-related issues.
The eight papers in the maiden publication span economics,
education, law and politics. It includes articles on trade
liberalisation, implications of a growing funeral industry
on the country’s economy and the teaching of mathematics,
among others.
Mrs. Chinery-Hesse lauded the IEA for the publication and
said it was an indication that there were intellectuals
willing and capable of developing alternative scenarios and
agenda.
She expressed the hope that public officials would make use
of the publication to enhance policy-making.
Dr Kwabena Anaman, Editor of the Ghana Policy Journal,
described the journal as a multidisciplinary one that
addressed policy-related issues across a wide range of
topics.
He said the IEA commissioned 15 papers of which eight were
selected based on an international refereeing protocol.
Source GNA
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