Opinions of Friday, 17 July 2020

Columnist: Collins Gado Anafure

Defunct websites, telephone numbers and email addresses of many institutions in Ghana

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I am compelled to put out this piece for all of us to take cue from it as it has the potential affecting our businesses and institutions when it comes to communication.

Firstly, let me start with the telephone numbers in both public and private alike either are still using hitherto Ghana Telecom for example numbers instead of changing to the new Vodafone numbers for instance most institution in the country have their websites either changed and have not updated their websites with those numbers deliberately and sometime inadvertently amnesia which in my opinion is not pardonable because most of them have well established IT support managers and officers there and if not addressed properly it would make it virtually impossible reaching out to those institutions and for those who have managed to changed and updated too most often there are obsolete either because there not recharged credits/units for a very long time compelling the telecom companies to cut their lines and even sometimes the line is passed over to another client for new usage without their notice.

Secondly, it is unbelievable that you could send a mail to a company using the mailing address at their website making a requisition or inquiry and the response would come back as nonexistent email address and this is rampant in most public institution and some few private ones. This brings to fore that most official emailing addressing of most institutions in this country, either there are nonfunctioning, been changed and or are not operational any longer and are not updated on their website. Either ways I think that the websites needs to be updated to include those that are currently functional for the public to know and thereby make communication through those medium exciting and not frustrating.

Thirdly and the last observation is the institutions main website you would notice that most have either changed, improved, innovated and or modernized it but yet, inadvertently forgotten or deliberately refused to update for easy communication with the general public and more especially those in the service industry. It would not be fair to mention names of some state institutions that have the aforementioned issues all defunct and some few private one as well.

I respectfully and humbly implore everyone reading this piece, whether a civil, public or private sector to immediately check his/her institution website right now and you would attest to this observation, what is more fascinating is that some don’t even have one, hence making those institution virtually inaccessible in whatever form.

In the 21st century and for the matter in the midst of this endemic covid-19, it is incumbent on all of us Ghanaians to ensure that these things are workable at our various ministries, departments and organizations to support the government in digitization drive and reactivate all defunct one for the benefit of our all.