The role of public relations in Ghana
The Public Relations Community around the globe is observing this month as World PR Month. The month is observed across the globe to recognise and celebrate the critical role of public relations (PR) in shaping communication, building reputations, and fostering mutual understanding between organisations and their publics. In the Ghanaian context, this day holds particular importance, as PR professionals across sectors continue to anchor national conversations, corporate credibility, crisis communication, and development messaging.
In Ghana, PR is often still misunderstood as simply being the work of a “spokesperson” or “media liaison.” While public speaking and media relations are essential components of PR, the field encompasses far more. It includes strategic communication planning, stakeholder engagement, brand positioning, reputation management, internal communication, and digital influence.
The PR is a profession beyond spokesmanship. It is far more than just spokesperson duties. While spokesperson roles are a visible and often high-profile aspect of PR, the profession is much broader, strategic, and multifaceted.
It is strategic communication, not just reactive messaging. Being a spokesperson often involves reacting to events, giving statements, addressing media questions, or clarifying a stance. PR, however, is a proactive means of ensuring peace and development. It involves shaping narratives, building long-term relationships, and planning campaigns that align with organisational goals. A PR professional helps set communication strategy from the inside out, working with leadership, marketing, HR, and even legal teams.
It’s not just about talking to the press or issuing press statements. The elite profession of Public Relations typically involves research, planning, execution, and evaluation. It is high time the public disabuses their minds of these and develops a different and positive mindset about the profession. The profession requires analytical, creative, and managerial skills beyond what a spokesperson typically uses.
The company spokesperson may just deliver the message, but the PR strategist directs the overall communication war room. In fact, modern PR is integrated and multi-platform.
“Public Relations is not just about speaking for an organisation; it’s about thinking with it, shaping how it is seen, understood, and trusted.” So yes, public relations is a profession that extends far beyond mere spokespersonship. It is a discipline rooted in strategic thinking, reputation management, and relationship-building that plays a central role in an organisation’s success.
As Ghana’s socio-political and economic terrain becomes increasingly complex and fast-paced, PR professionals are taking on a more visible and strategic role. Whether it’s the Ghana Health Service managing COVID-19 public education, COCOBOD engaging cocoa farmers, or corporate brands handling social responsibility and digital backlash, educating professionals to relate well with the rest of the society, PR practitioners are often at the heart of effective response and leadership communication.
The PR community in Ghana has evolved significantly over the last few decades. The landscape is increasingly expanding. The Institute of Public Relations (IPR), Ghana, established in 1972, continues to be the leading voice championing ethical practice, continuous professional development, and policy engagement. Over the years, institutions such as the Ghana Institute of Journalism (now part of the University of Media, Arts and Communication), the University of Ghana, and other universities in the country have also contributed to the growth of PR education, producing graduates who now lead corporate, government, and nonprofit communications.
However, challenges remain. In many organisations, PR is still underfunded or misaligned within administrative departments instead of being embedded in the C-suite or strategic decision-making circles. Yet, the tide is changing. Increasingly, PR is being recognised as a core leadership function, not a cosmetic add-on. The modern Ghanaian CEO must now engage the public not just through financial reports or speeches, but through consistent, values-driven communication that reflects empathy, transparency, and trust.
Gone are the days when PR in Ghana relied solely on press conferences and “protocol.” Today, the best Ghanaian PR teams are deploying data-driven storytelling, real-time crisis response, influencer partnerships, digital analytics, and strategic branding to build authentic connections.
Take, for instance, the role of PR in national campaigns from elections to census outreach, health initiatives to youth empowerment programmes. These successes are rarely accidental, they are the result of careful message development, community engagement, media relations, and feedback loops. Public Relations moments as been observed this month, in July, serve as a reminder that behind every successful public initiative is a team of communicators shaping the narrative, correcting misinformation, and creating platforms for inclusive dialogue.
Building a resilient PR future for Ghana is therefore key to ensuring consistent development. This year’s Public Relations Day should prompt stakeholders from government to academia, from corporate Ghana to civil society, to ask very pertinent questions, such as “How can we empower the next generation of PR professionals? Are we investing in ethical training, media literacy, and digital communication tools that reflect today’s realities?”
Young PR professionals in Ghana need mentorship, platforms to showcase their skills, and institutional support. With the rise of social media, fake news, AI, and digital surveillance, the future of PR must be both agile and grounded in ethics. The time has come not just to institutionalise PR departments in every ministry, but importantly, to empower all PR professionals by ensuring that PR becomes part of management for professional direction and support to growth and also to professionally protect corporate reputation at all levels.
In the dynamic world of development economics, factors like infrastructure, human capital, fiscal policy, and trade dominate the conversation. Yet one often-overlooked catalyst of national growth is Public Relations (PR), the strategic discipline that builds trust, shapes perception, and drives stakeholder engagement. In Ghana, where development narratives are often contested and policy communication is fragmented, PR can no longer be treated as a backroom function. It is time to reimagine PR as a core engine of national economic development.
PR must also be supported to act as the engine of trust. This is because no economy can thrive without trust, that is, trust in institutions, trust in leadership, and trust in the future. PR is the mechanism through which this trust is built and maintained. Whether it’s a foreign investor assessing Ghana’s business climate or a local cocoa farmer deciding whether to adopt a new government policy, communication is crucial. How information is shared, who shares it, and how consistently it is communicated shape not only attitudes but also economic behaviour.
Ghana’s economic development has been driven not only by macroeconomic reforms but also by the narratives surrounding those reforms. In the 1990s, the structural adjustment era faced widespread public backlash largely due to poor public engagement. This contrasts with more recent government efforts to digitise public services and formalise sectors like mobile money, policies that gained traction partly because of sustained, effective public education campaigns.
As Ghana joins the rest of the world to celebrate Public Relations Month, we honour the silent architects of national trust, the PR officers, strategists, writers, designers, and digital communicators who shape perceptions, manage reputations, and protect the public interest.
Let this period not only be a celebration but also a call to action for greater investment in communication, stronger ethical standards, and a unified national appreciation for the power of public relations in Ghana’s democracy, development, and destiny. For it is said that “Without strategic communication, even the best ideas die in silence.”
Let’s keep telling Ghana’s story professionally, truthfully, and powerfully.
BY NANA SIFA TWUM (PhD.)
