International Journal of Sub-Saharan African Research (IJSSAR)

Background: Despite significant investment in digital platforms and e-government initiatives, public sector communication in Ghana via the corporate website continues to function as one-way interaction aimed at information dissemination rather than enabling dialogue, feedback, or sustained citizen engagement. Objectives: This study examines the extent to which Ghana's public sector corporate websites incorporate dialogic communication principles and identifies the institutional, cultural, and technological barriers that constrain their implementation for citizen engagement. Methods: The study adopted a qualitative multiple-case design to investigate the understanding, practice of, and barriers to adopting dialogic communication principles for Ghana’s public sector corporate websites using semi-structured in-depth interviews, focus group discussions, and a manifest content analysis. Results: The study reveals that Ghanaian public sector corporate websites operate predominantly as one-way information repositories. The dialogic loop, enabling feedback and timely responses, emerged as the weakest element, constrained by hierarchical approval processes, limited digital capacity, and inadequate feedback systems. Other dialogic principles, including mutuality and propinquity, were partially present across institutions, while empathy and commitment were largely absent, indicating a systemic orientation toward information provision rather than relational engagement.
Conclusion: The results contribute to scholarship on digital governance in postcolonial African contexts, proposing ways in which corporate websites may be repositioned from static information hubs toward more interactive platforms with the potential to support democratic dialogue, public trust, and citizen-centred governance. Unique contribution: The study proposes an eight-component framework, distinguishing strategic from tactical components to facilitate dialogic communication via a corporate website in an African public sector context. Key recommendation: Ghanaian public sector institutions must reposition their corporate websites as a strategic governance resource by adopting a dialogic approach grounded in listening, mutual understanding, and shared responsibility between the government and citizens.