Bawumia Interacts With Media

Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia

Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, running mate to the 2012 Presidential Candidate of the New Patriotic Party, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has praised the media for the great work it is doing in deepening and further entrenching Ghana's democracy.

Dr. Bawumia made this comment in an interaction with journalists at his Kanda residence on Wednesday.

In a short message to the members of the media fraternity gathered, Dr. Bawumia stated, 'As the 4th Estate of the realm, we owe you our deepest gratitude for the work that you do to entrench our democracy and if we are honest, we would admit that Ghana's media is among the freest in the world'.

The 48-year-old renowned economist also took the opportunity to acknowledge the work done by the erstwhile NPP government under the leadership of  former President John Agyekum Kufuor and Nana Akufo-Addo, the then Attorney General, for repealing the Criminal Libel Law.

He noted that the repeal of the law had helped significantly in making the Ghanaian media one of the freest in the world.

The event was the first formal interaction the NPP running mate was having with members of the media since his appointment and endorsement as running mate for the December 2012 elections.

Dr. Bawumia, in his statement, also noted what he termed as 'negative elements' in the media, who he described as using their pens and microphones to put out fabrications intended at destroying personalities.

He prayed that the media would collectively focus on issues, especially in the run up to the December elections, as it would help create the needed environment for the Ghanaian electorate to make an informed choice when the time was due for ballots to be cast.

The former Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana took the chance to invite the media fraternity to this year's edition of the Ferdinand Ayim Memorial Lectures, scheduled to take place on  May 2 at the College of Physicians and Surgeons, during which he would deliver a lecture on the subject 'The State of the Economy'.

The event saw many senior journalists and media managers attending and fraternizing with each other as well as top brass of the NPP party and its Communication Directorate who were around, including the 1st National Chairperson of the Party, Fred Oware; National Youth Organizer, Anthony Karbo; Director of Communications, Nana Akomea, and Deputy Director of Communications, Perry Okudzeto.