President John Mahama’s decision to allocate GH¢10 million as seed money for Ghana’s Media Development Fund has won support from both sides of Parliament, in a rare show of bipartisan backing for the country’s media industry.

The MP for Bunkpurugu, Dr Abednego Lamangin Bandim, said the announcement had triggered discussions among lawmakers, who broadly considered it a welcome move. Speaking on Joy News’ PM Express on Monday, 9 November, he described the allocation as a significant commitment to the development of Ghana’s media industry, and said it was the first time a president had made such a substantial financial commitment towards media development.

What the fund will support

President Mahama announced the GH¢10 million allocation in the 2027 national budget at the 30th anniversary of the Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) Media Awards. The money is intended as seed funding for the Media Development Fund, which is expected to support journalist welfare, professional development, investigative reporting, digital literacy and safety training.

Mr Mahama said he had first announced the reactivation of the fund at the 29th GJA Media Awards, and that the budget allocation fulfilled that commitment. He also pledged to work personally with the GJA to raise further money from corporate organisations, naming KGL and the Bank of Ghana among the institutions he planned to approach.

“I shall personally work with the GJA to get several other corporate institutions to contribute to the fund,” he said at the awards ceremony. “So KGL, Bank of Ghana, all of you, we are coming to you to contribute to the Media Fund.”

Parliament begins work on the legislation

Dr Bandim, who holds a PhD in communications management, said discussions had already begun in Parliament on how to advance the legislative process for the fund. He said he had discussed the matter with the ranking member of the relevant committee, and that the committee would take it up once the bill was presented, with the legislation expected to come forward as a Private Member’s Bill.

He also pointed to the president’s own background as a public relations and communications practitioner, a former Minister of Communications and a member of the Ghana Journalists Association, as a reason the commitment carried weight with the industry.

Questions over governance remain

The fund’s supporters will still have to answer questions about how it is governed. An earlier GH¢1 million allocation announced for the fund in 2012 was never transparently put to use, and commentators have again raised questions about governance, disbursement and independence. The GH¢10 million is a budgeted allocation for 2027, not proof that the fund is operating or that corporate money is secured.

There is also debate about the conditions attached to support. George Sarpong, speaking in a separate intervention reported on Monday, said media houses must have accountability systems in place to receive grants, a reminder that the fund’s design will matter as much as its size.

For now, though, the politics are unusually settled. With both sides of Parliament describing the GH¢10 million as a good thing, the fund has cleared its first hurdle. The next test is the legislation itself, and whether the money reaches working journalists rather than stopping at announcements.