President elect for the Ghana Journalist Association, Mr. Affail Monney, has once again cautioned the entire nation specifically the media, to put a halt to engaging the ‘infamous’ General Secretaries for the two major political parties in Ghana after each Supreme Court proceedings.
For the past few weeks, Johnson Asiedu Nketia and Lawyer Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie, General Secretaries for the NDC and NPP respectively, became the thundering voices that were heard above others to offer their personal opinions on the petition challenging the legitimacy of President Mahama.
However, the yet to be sworn in president of the Ghana Journalist Association, informed Okay FM that though it appears the two gentlemen had flouted his authority when he issued a directive to sideline them, he believes allowing them to continue with their speeches, can lead the whole nation into a serious “temptation”.
Although he refused to note the exact temptation, he observed that the events transpiring at the Supreme Court were so dicey and had what it takes to further define the democracy of the nation.
He also acknowledged that although freedom is of essence to a journalist, he recommends that politicians such as Asiedu Nketia and Lawyer Kwakwo Owusu Afriyie, shouldn’t be given an inch.
He added that the two often mistaken an inch for a mile and seized the opportunity to say anything they wanted when the media granted them a platform.
“Politicians are politicians and if you should give them an inch, they take ten inches and add some. Their job is to score political goals regardless of the fact that what they say would be considered as foul or fair. Their main aim is to score a point and the media is the only playing field where they can score such goals.
“We must all be very careful when dealing with the two General Secretaries especially when everyone has the opportunity to watch the court proceedings live…we shouldn’t allow them make contemptuous statements on our platforms…the law of contempt is real,” he reminded.