General News of Saturday, 20 January 2018
Source: Myjoyonline.com
2018-01-20
Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa, North Tongu Member of Parliament
The North Tongu Member of Parliament (MP) has accused president Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo of being “evasive” with his answers at the Wednesday’s media encounter.
Samuel Okudzeto Ablakwa said the president did not open up to the journalists at the Flagstaff House event on key issues affecting the country.
Speaking to Samson Lardy Anyenini on Joy FM/MultiTV’s news analysis show Newsfile Saturday, he said president Akufo-Addo’s posture and format of questions, showed the meeting was rushed.
He would rather have the encounter rescheduled if the president was not ready, the former Deputy Education Minister said.
“The invitation came from the president so you choose a day that you can have time for the media so that you can also provide the appropriate responses,” he said.
Journalists at the second media encounter with the president have been widely criticised for the low quality of questions asked. The first one was done in July last year.
About 27 questions were posed to president Akufo-Addo at the encounter, but the Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) has singled out three which it said were relevant.
The media promoter said the president was composed and demonstrated knowledge on a wide array of issues at the event.
But Mr Ablakwa said president Akufo-Addo was not impressive, adding he did not address many of the questions asked him satisfactorily.
“What is more worrying about the job discussion has to do with the first part of the president’s statement. The president began with the precarious state of the unemployment situation [and] he provided a heartrending statistic [but that was it],” he said.
Although Vice president of IMANI-Ghana Kofi Bentil lauded president Akufo-Addo for his candidness, he was displeased with his response to the question about the report of the 2014 World Cup Commission of Enquiry.
In his response to the question by Asempa FM’s Countryman Songo, the president said he had forgotten about the report entirely.
“If you are serious about fighting corruption some things must not slip. We go through a whole commission, we have a report, you have bizarre stories, ministers cry and it was forgotten and nothing happened?” Mr Bentil lamented.
“I respect the candidness of the president but it revealed something else.”