Just over a dozen persons who were being paid through the state-owned National Communications Network (NCN) to do political propaganda work by the PPP/C administration have been sacked, according to Director of Communications in the Ministry of the Presidency Mark Archer.
The 13 persons, who were part of what was known as the New Media Unit at the former Office of the President (OP), were receiving $22,000 every fortnight through NCN.
According to Archer, none of the individuals worked out of the then OP and had not turned up since the new administration came into office. Their supervisor, Jason Abdulah, was the only one who was stationed at OP and he explained that their duties entailed writing ghost letters, monitoring Facebook and responding to criticisms of the past administration and also posting photographs as directed by former OP Press and Publicity Officer Kwame McCoy. It was McCoy who wrote the invoice for the individuals to be paid. Abdulah was also fired.
During the first meeting between representatives of the new administration and the top brass at NCN, Archer said the information on the individuals being paid through the network was volunteered. He added that there “was no hiding and if there was any hiding it was in plain sight.”
