President Mahama and the Media Cabal

 
By Nana Yaw Osei.
The President of Republic of Ghana, Mr. John Dramani Mahama, has lamented over the apathy of some Ghanaian media houses towards the National Democratic Congress's (NDC) transformational message under his stewardship. For example, Mr. Mahama reportedly said: “It is populism; a certain group has taken control of the media in Ghana, and it makes it difficult for people to discern the truth. So, as much as you are putting out the information, it is either being blocked or distorted,” (Source: citifmonline.com, Tuesday October 18, 2016). The foregoing assertion of Mr. Mahama presents two main hunches.

The President's assertion is almost invariably shrouded in his cognitive distortion (thinking error) that state-owned media project his transformational message, and so private media must do same. Secondly, the President accentuated the inability of his government to disseminate information to the public: a boomerang effect of kakistocracy (a system of government by the least qualified citizens). Even so, I must admit, I admire some of his ministers. This article will be based on the aforementioned premonitions (Hunches).

Fellow countrymen, the state-owned media are working for their paymasters, and, therefore, exaggerate the policies of the ruling government, in order to appear good before their employer. The sycophantic choruses sung by the journalists of the public media like Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC), Daily Graphic and Ghanaian Times had never inured to the benefit of all. Journalists who publicly criticised a given ruling government were dealt a lethal blow relative to their profession.

For example, Mr. Kwame Gyasi of the University of Ghana Business School, who was a columnist at the Spectator Newspaper, lost his job as a columnist with a change of government in 2009. Mr. Egbert Faibille, a journalist and a legal practitioner who was a host of Ghana Television's (GTV) talk show programme, “Talking Point” was sacked as soon as the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government came to power in 2009. Under President Kufuor’s administration, Mr. Kwesi Pratt Jnr was almost blacklisted from GTV programmes.

All governments in Ghana are guilty of being saboteurs of journalists who revealed information that went against the government. In cognitive behavioral therapy, cognitive distortion (thinking error) is the way an individual's mind convinces him/her of something that is not true. In the individual psychotherapy espoused by Alfred Adler (1870-1937), thinking error is known as “mistaken beliefs”. Mistaken convictions are formed, based on an individual's own experience. Could Mr. Mahama's experience in censoring the media be a motivating factor for his thinking about a media cabal?

Certainly, President Mahama's own experience of media censorship partly motivated him for his thoughts about a media cabal blocking his transformational message. Just as his government and previous governments had engaged in media censorship, Mr. President thinks the private media are paying him back, by thwarting his message from getting to the public. In 2012, the NDC government, with Mr. Mahama as the then Vice President, blacklisted Multimedia Ghana Limited for perceived bias. This was a clear indication of media censorship in Ghana since 1992. I am tempted to believe that Mr. Mahama, not Professor Mills, was behind the 2012 censorship of Multimedia Ghana Limited. He has confirmed that with his media cabal allegation.

An American psychiatrist and behavioural scientist at Stanford University Medical School, Professor David D. Burns, asserted that when you change the way you think, you can change the way you feel and behave. Simply put, if we can learn to think about other people in a more positive and realistic way, it would be far easier to resolve conflicts and develop rewarding personal and professional relationships. The government must be fair in dealing with public media entities, in order to relieve itself of his (President Mahama) mistaken convictions about a “media cabal” in Ghana.

The President's transformational message is not getting to the people, because many citizens do not respect some of his ministers. Assuming Mr. Okudzeto Ablakwa, briefing university professors on government policies on university or tertiary education, psychologically, the message will not go anywhere, because Mr. Ablakwa is bereft of respect from teachers of the tertiary educational fraternity.

There is no media cabal, my noble President, but your lack of disdain for putting a round peg in a square hole is the problem. Many Ghanaians disapprove Mr. Ablakwa as a Minister in charge of Tertiary Education. For example, in April 15, 2015, college of education students boycotted Okudzeto Ablakwa at the campus of Wesley College of Education in Kumasi. In April 13, 2016, Mr. Ablakwa and his colleagues were snubbed by University of Cape Coast (UCC) students. Mr. President, if all these incidents were red flags signalling the level of disapproval of ministers like Mr. Ablakwa, how can your message get to the people?

Today, what is happening to tertiary education in Ghana under Mr. Ablakwa? Proliferation of fake doctoral degrees, because your Minister in charge of Tertiary Education is not fit for the portfolio. Professor Prosper Yao Tsikata and Dr. Kobla Dotse had written many articles about fake doctoral degrees in Ghana, but all to no avail. Mr. President, sectors like education, health, energy and finance, whether deputy or substantive minister, require an experienced individual.

There is no media cabal blocking your message. If a whole government in charge of information and communication could have its messages being blocked by private individuals, it tells us how effective the government is. President Mahama's involvement in sacking NDC critics like Mr. Kwame Gyasi, hitherto of the Spectator Newspaper, and blacklisting Multimedia Ghana Limited, motivated his thinking of a “media cabal” sabotaging his transformational agenda. No media entity is blocking your message, but lack of respect for some of your ministers is blocking your message.

God Bless Our Homeland Ghana.
“I know that I am intelligent, because I know that I know nothing.” (Socrates).

Source: modernghana