The Policy Analysis and Monitoring Centre (PAMC) says President Nana Akufo Addo's encounter with media as "a bit problematic"

The policy think tank,  in assessing the president at last Wednesday's event, punched holes in the President's preparations for the encounter.

This was carried in a report copied to ghanaguardian.com and it covered six major points, including his late arrival.

Below is the full statement

December 21, 2018

PRESS STATEMENT

ASSESSMENT OF THE PRESIDENT'S MEET THE PRESS ENCOUNTER BY POLICY ANALYSIS AND MONITORING CENTRE (PAMC)

We deem it important to congratulate the president for the media encounter and his desire to subject himself to a question and answer session by a cross-section of the media so as to bring governance closer to the people.

This is commendable given that the president was able to do this even under strenuous circumstances, on arrival same day. In as much as the desire to do this is commendable, it must be done well if it has to.

The program admittedly may have gone on seamlessly but for the gaping flaws that exposed some incompetence of the president and his handlers:

 

LATE ARRIVAL

Late arrival of the president to the forum was an unprecedented dent which could have been avoided. Actions of the President should be seen to set good examples for the citizenry. We would want to believe that, the lateness was partly due to the fact that he travelled into the country the same day. But again,  his organizational capabilities comes into question, as to why the event could not be rescheduled to a more convenient day. His handlers should be answering this question.

It can also be fairly construed that, the president was late because he had to be briefed privately on developments in his absence ahead of the engagement. This later manifested at the question time.

MONOLOGUE

A presidential media encounter is often a day set aside to have an adequate time to listen and answer questions from the media than for the president to listen to himself or deliver a lecture to his audience. Why the president opted for that unending monologue is yet another minus. Matters even got worse when the media were virtually squeezed out of the encounter. This is because the president who came about 30 minutes late used 71 minutes for his monologue and allowed only 19 minutes for questions from the media.  But there was also an unfortunate twist when president Nana Addo showed an unfriendly media posture by cutting most of them off. It is not surprising that they are outraged. The presidential media handlers have a lot of learning and catching up to do and is one that requires competence.

His presentation was also a bit problematic. We are at sea as to  understanding what the president meant by saying that his “policies will send Ghana to the 21st Century” How? When indeed 21st Century began almost two decades ago. Is this also as a result of fatigue, something else or a combination of many factors? Perhaps the handlers should have rested him to refresh his brains. Quite frankly, the man is not as sharp as he used to be. People should stop pretending and see him for what he is now. Competent hands are really needed at the presidency. There are many more issues within this subject that time won’t permit us to enumerate.

Q AND A TIME

The President’s amnesia or inability to answer common questions did not do any good to his image. Even when he literally and unconventionally requested the questions to be leaked to him ahead of time, answering same was difficult. It had not been same with past presidents who exhibited sharp institutional memory on issues pertaining to most sectors of the economy by answering questions on their feet. Nana Addo kept passing on the questions. How is it possible that the president could not remember an event that occurred in August of 2017!

His Excellency President Nana Akufo-Addo, and Mr. Gavin Brown, the Executive Director of MAMA (Michigan Aerospace Manufacturers Association), met in August 2017 to discuss the MAMA-HELP project at the Office of the President, Flagstaff House.  But when a question was put to the president on the day he said he could not remember the man and does not even remember what was discussed. We still have 2 more years to go with Nana Addo  Executive President and Commander in Chief of the Ghana Armed Forces. We better look for people who understand the circumstances of the aged to handle the president.

DRONE, AKONFEM COMPARISON

On the issue of the drones, Mr. President, be informed that, the critics are not only the opposition NDC, but also very important stakeholders such as the Ghana Medical Association (GMA) and the Ghana laboratory Association. It is therefore important they are listened to rather than lump them all up and condemn as cynics.

By the way, what is there to compare between the SADA/Akonfem project and the Drone Project?

There's absolutely nothing to compare. The SADA project has obviously failed and there can be no excuse for it. Project success or failure is measured after implementation. This drone thing has not been implemented yet for us to do an impact assessment. So where is the point of comparison? Well intended projects sometimes fail. So let’s be careful with the high-speed propaganda.

Mr. President, you are not just "a politician", you are also a statesman. There is a conduct that guides the utterances and conduct of persons in the category of "His Excellency" (HE). Please let your foot soldiers handle certain things.

OSLO SCANDAL

Perhaps, one of the very lowest moments was when H.E Nana AddoDankwahAkufoAddo attempted to deal with Oslo Scandal. The president was not in the country when this issue broke out in parliament. Admittedly, he was not informed. He only flew into it and got briefed by his ministers with inaccurate and lopsided information to meet the press. Out of maturity, this is one issue the president actually needed to stay out of until he is fully equipped with balanced information. To dismiss same as propaganda from his detractors is most unfortunate, least expected. Someone should be telling the president that he goofed big time. This is because, not all members of his administration share the views that he presented. Chairman of the parliamentary sub-committee on Foreign Affairs finds the transaction problematic, Hon Kennedy Agyepong equally hails the minority and commends them for their vigilance and actions taken so far. So, on what basis did the president come to that obnoxious and repulsive conclusion? Things like this only portray the president as one who pretends to be interested in the fight against corruption.

CSO

Civil Society Organizations are an integral part of democratic governance and the fight against corruption. They have held previous administrations to account and even became more vocal than ever in the erstwhile Mahama administration. The opposition at the time was very comfortable with their statements and standard of measurements. Please, Mr. President, you can save your integrity by remaining consistent and chastise them the way you did simply because they found something wrong with your administration and your appointees. We do not want to believe that you think your appointees are a set of Angels and Saints.

In conclusion

Mr. President, there is always another side to all issues. As the father of the nation, we implore you to endeavour to seek a second opinion or better still, listen to your so-called critics before making judgmental comments or definitive conclusions else you could easily be labeled as intolerant.

This media encounter came across as a setup for your failure, given what happened. Your performance is being measured against your predecessors and the verdict out there isn't a favourable one. You may want to look at all those who played roles in this press encounter and see if all of them really deserve to have their jobs.

Thank you.

(SIGNED)

Annette Enyo

(0200951910)

King A. Sulleyman

(0505400567)

Charles Gray

(0244060749)