A former minister of Information, Nana Akomea has urged Public Relations Officers (PRO) to engage more with various stakeholders before developing or releasing new policies, to avoid backlashes to their respective industries.

He said most often, initiatives and policies taken by some companies were sometimes not accepted by stakeholders or citizens because according to him, the engagement process was not properly thought through.

Nana Akomea was speaking to public relations practitioners at a lecture organised on Wednesday by the Institute of Public Relations (IPR) on the topic “Citizen Engagement in Public Service Delivery (The Strategic Role of Public Relations)".

“Engagement is a vital part of public relations (PR) because, without it, companies would not be able to know the concerns and challenges of their customers,” he added.

The former Information Minister noted that the instances where people rebelled against certain actions was because citizen engagements were not done properly, citing a case in point as the disagreement over the paperless system at the Tema Port, the temporary ban on fishing, and the riots at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) over the change of some hostels.

These instances, he observed, were as a result of failed engagements between parties but could have been avoided had the PROs been diligent in their engagements.

Nana Akomea, who is the Managing Director of Intercity State Transport Company (STC), explained that without citizen’s engagements, it was impossible to please everyone at the same time, saying it was therefore imperative for practitioners to be in constant engagement with stakeholders to ensure that everyone agrees with the new policy.

“Citizen engagement should not only be done when a policy is about to be implemented or designed but it should be a constant practice for the company to be constantly aware of the concerns of the public,” he added

Nana Akomea said the job of strategic PR was to fashion out ways for citizens to be part of the implementation process.

He advised PROs to be in constant communication with management to help them understand the importance of engagement and the benefits it has to the growth of the company.