The Minister of Information, John Tia Akologo, says the Information Ministry as a regulatory body is mandated to keep the public informed about government businesses and that the relevance of the Ministry cannot be over emphasized.

According to him, some critics calling for the closure of the Ministry are ill-informed about the relevance and functions of the Ministry.

Mr Akologo Tia was reacting to comments made by Professor Emmanuel Gyimah Boadi of the Centre for Democratic Development and former Zebilla MP, John Ndebugri who are of the view that the Information Ministry is being used as propaganda machinery for government rather than serving as the mouthpiece of the people at the grassroot level.

Speaking to Radio Ghana in Bolgatanga, Mr Akologo Tia said his Ministry cannot be scrapped since it is one of the important Ministries of the government.

The Ministry he said has not lost its relevance and referred to his critics as people who are only interested in their ideologies without taking into account the illiteracy rate of Ghanaians, because they are fortunate to access information from all avenues of the mass media.

He said even though there has been proliferations of the mass media, many rural folks still find it difficult to access information.

This situation he observed has widened the communication gap between the urban rich and the rural poor.

GBC