NDC sympathiser and Editor of the Bilingual Free Press newspaper, Alhaji Iddrisu Bature has described as disappointing claims by the General Secretary of the Peoples National Convention, Mr. Bernard Mornah that journalists who were at the Castle on Friday January 7, 2011 for the Editors’ Forum were only there to enjoy lunch.
Mr. Mornah told Citi News that during the interaction with the President, the journalists did not ask vital and intelligent questions concerning the wellbeing of Ghanaians. For instance there were no questions relating to health or education, he posited.
He insists the journalists not fulfil their professional obligations to ask the right questions on behalf of the citizenry, rather appearing to be dumbfounded and dazed by the presence and responses of the President.
The Ghana Journalists Association has since dismissed the claim. President of the GJA, Mr Ransford Tetteh, said Mr Mornah’s criticism amounted to insulting the intelligence of the Ghanaian journalist. He said journalists asked questions that are salient in their view and that it was wrong to try and trivialize the questions put to the president and the exercise generally.
The Editor of Bilingual Free Press, Alhaji Iddrisu Bature who participated in the forum told Citi News Mr. Mornah may be part of a group of persons who wanted the President to be asked embarrassing questions.
He said each journalist present at the forum asked a relevant question.
“I think that he can never be justified in anyway because as a matter of fact all the journalists who went there didn’t even know they will have lunch because there have been previous encounters where even snacks were not provided let alone lunch. So Journalists did not go for the encounter with the president having in mind that they were going to have lunch. They went there for serious business and they asked the critical questions.
The President’s responses were also in the right direction. People think that because embarrassing questions were not asked to embarrass the President, then it means critical questions were not asked. If you assess the whole function, you cannot give it a 100% mark. That is a fact of life” he said.