The Member of Parliament for Wassa East has accused President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo of running away from the Ghanaian media.
According to him, the President has subtly avoided engaging the media openly as witnessed in the past under the Kufuor, Atta Mills and Mahama administrations.
Hon. Isaac Adjei Mensah observed that the media appears to also accept this fact and has generally given the President free pass by failing to press him on issues as it did under the erstwhile NDC administration.
Speaking on the Sunrise show on 3FM, Hon. Adjei Mensa averred that if the president avails himself, even cosmetic, it shows some respect to the media.
He was responding to a question on the performance of President Akufo-Addo in the interview he granted the BBC on Monday, April 4, 2022, in the UK
The MP urged the media to hold President Akufo-Addo accountable the way they did Mahama when he was the President and argued it is a prerequisite of democracy for the President to engage the press at least once a year.
“We expect the president to engage the press. He must avail himself of that encounter however cosmetic it is, it is good for the sake of democracy.”
“I think it is not in good taste and he must take steps to redeem himself,” he said.
A cross-section of Ghanaians shares the opinion that President Akufo-Addo has been overly protective when it comes to media engagements, especially from the Ghanaian media. Former Presidents of Ghana during their tenure periodically held ‘Meet the Press’ meetings to engage the media on pertinent issues.
Mr Adjei Mensah observed that the president probably lost his cool in the interview with the BBC and couldn’t rise to the occasion and attempted to evade local issues.
