The Praise-Singers vs Tough Questions: The two sets of journalists who met Bawumia

On Sunday, August 25, 2024, when the Vice President of Ghana, who also doubles as the Flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, was meeting the media at the Movenpick Ambassador Hotel in Accra, some social media users had, among others, one very interesting question to ask.

The question was, ‘Is it the journalists who are clapping?’ – reflective of the fact that in such a meeting, the practice would not have been to see or hear people clapping, because, as it is, these are journalists who should only be there to hold duty-bearers to account, not ‘celebrating’ them, as it were.

It would later turn out that the people who were actually clapping were the other government officials in the room with the journalists, and the other sympathisers of the NPP therein gathered.

But they were not the only praise-singers of the NPP leader, or of the party, as the ensuing engagements later proved when some journalists openly did the mouthpiece jobs for the ruling political party.

GhanaWeb, by this article, looks back on that historic encounter, reflecting on the group of journalists classified here as ‘praise-singers in journalistic cloaks,’ plus the majority who went there to just seek answers, as is the trademark of their professions.

Let’s begin with the class of journalists who asked the ‘tough’ questions.

The meeting with the journalists, by the way, was exactly 24 hours after the largest opposition party, the National Democratic Congress (NDC), launched its 2024 manifesto, titled “Resetting Agenda: Jobs. Accountability. Prosperity.”

For some people, including John Dramani Mahama, the NDC flagbearer, the buzz around their manifesto should have been allowed to enjoy some airtime dominance sometime before something else of the magnitude of the Bawumia Meets the Media event came in to challenge it, but there is another argument too: Why didn’t the NDC also allow the NPP enjoy their media ‘takeover’ for some time, especially when the ruling party launched its manifesto only a week before the opposition did theirs?

That, by the way, is a matter for discussion on another day, but during the encounter with Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, some questions hit quite at home.

For instance, a representative of Citi FM and Channel One TV, Sammy Wiafe, asked a question about what plans there were for the progress of work on the National Cathedral project.

Question: “We know huge sums of monies have been sunk into the project. What will you do about it if or when you become president of this country?”

In response, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia said, “National Cathedral, again, is a very, very important issue because taxpayers money has gone into it and many people would like to see it completed. And I believe that one should have an engagement with the churches and all the stakeholders for us to see how best to get the funds needed to complete the project, but I think that we need to sit and talk; if the design has to be looked at again to make sure it can be completed.

“We have to put everything on the table but I will be minded more by the churches and the church leaders and the discussions that we should have with them on the way forward. But I think that it’s an important issue.”

That was just one of the good ones, and then there was another from someone who, for many netizens, didn’t disappoint at all. The following are questions from Media General representative, Berla Mundi, to the vice president:

“Would you agree when Ghanaians say you should apologise for where we are at the moment, especially looking at the promises you have made and the performances not matching those promises?” and, “It was fact-checked and confirmed that some eight people died during the 2020 general elections. So far, I’m not sure either you or the president has said anything about it. I have spoken to a lot of analysts about it and they are saying that maybe if you had addressed this very early on in your campaign, maybe, you might have a greater chance than you have now.”

In response to Berla’s question about apologising for poor governance and economic mismanagement, Dr. Bawumia rather chose to use the opportunity to highlight his achievements.

“It’s very interesting when you look at the work we have done… for the first time since independence we have a national ID system. We championed national ID at birth. For the first time, with a Ghana Card and without a guarantor, you can get a student loan. For the first time, we have a comprehensive digital system. We have drones delivering medical supplies and saving lives.”

Regarding the issue of the eight individuals who lost their lives in the 2020 elections, he said, “I’m not quite sure whether the president has commented or not but anytime we lose a life in any circumstance, it doesn’t have to be an election, it’s usually a very sad event. It’s a sad occurrence for people to have died in elections as a result of conflict. It is something that law enforcement is dealing with, but I’m not sure of the details.”

Other questions were;

Nana Yaw Kesse from Peace FM: “You have promised to abolish Bet Tax, E-Levy, Flat Import Duty, One Time Tax Amnesty, among others. If you really believe that, that is what Ghana needs, why should we wait till you become the president and not implement it now?

Samson Lardy Anyenini of JoyNews: “My question is coming from a group of students on scholarships abroad. They are concerned that the Scholarship Secretariat is not doing what it has to do for them. On page 27 of your manifesto, you speak about harmonising public scholarships… what will you do about this now and not later?”

Frema Adunyame of Citi FM: “Your Excellency, it is quite clear that Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia is not the visionary for the current NPP administration, but as rightly admitted, you bear some collective responsibility for the outcomes of government’s efforts, either successes or failures. Mr. Vice President, can you state two failures of your current administration which you seek to correct, and how do you intend to do this differently should you become the president?”

Kwabena Nikanika of Moonlight FM, Sunyani, Bono East: “Your Excellency, the last time you were in Sunyani, I presented your book to you and I told you I was still eagerly waiting to sit you down and do an academic discourse on it. I think those who introduced you into the Ghanaian politics didn’t do you well by actually letting us know what you stand for as far as your economic ‘wizkidship’ is concerned. So, let’s do this when next you come to Sunyani, but I bring you greetings from Sunyani. And, my people say I should ask you that everything that every government begins in Sunyani stalls halfway… Has Bono wronged the government? Is there any animosity between local governance and national government?”

Umaru Sanda Amadu of Citi FM/Channel One TV: “Good evening, Mr Vice President, I have a message from your in-laws; the Fulanis. They say I should remind you that they are still being discriminated against when it comes to obtaining national ID cards, passports and so on. So, kindly work on the discrimination part for them. My question is, your critics, mostly the NDC, they say that the economy has ‘over you’ so you run away to digitisation. What is your response to such a criticism?”

And then there was an emotional journalist from the Northeast Region who first took an unprovoked swipe at the host of Newsfile on JoyNews and then asked the vice president how he feels when people go online to use unprintable words on him.

He asked, “I was watching Newsfile yesterday and one independent presidential aspirant used a lot of unprintable words on you and I was so sad to the extent that the host saw nothing wrong with that. And I want to find out from you; when you do hear some of these things, how do you feel, or how do you take it as a person, not a president?”

While there were many more brilliant questions, let’s quickly move to the ‘almighty’ praise-singing journalists who made it to this GhanaWeb List of Fame:

Paul Adom-Otchere:

Not particularly surprising, the Host of Good Evening Ghana on Metro TV, took to the mic and did not disappoint. Here is everything he said at the media encounter:

“Good evening, Mr Vice President and colleague journalists, I think we’re having a very interesting time. Mr. Vice President, I covered the NPP presidential primaries in 1998, I covered Election 2000, I covered the NDC contest before Election 2004; the one between Mills and Kwasi Botchway. I covered Election 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016. I have never seen a presidential candidate, whether in opposition or in government, focusing his campaign to the people about policy initiatives and policies that have been achieved.

“I also covered the UK Elections in 2001 for Tony Blair, and I covered also the UK Elections in 2019. You will find in those places that they were always articulating policies – what can be done, what can be solved. You will find here, in all of those historical elections, that we were not doing that until Mahamudu Bawumia arrived on the scene (hand claps follow). Mr. Vice President, whatever happens in December, you have changed the politics of Ghana and Africa for a long time to come. I have nothing more useful to add except that God bless you.”

And then came the veteran Ebo Quansah, who had these praise-laced words to say along with his question to the New Patriotic Party (NPP) flagbearer, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia:

“Mr. Vice President and incoming president (handclaps as Dr. Bawumia nods with a broad smile on his face), about three years ago, I attended your lecture at Berekuso. When I came back, my feature was simple; the headline was simple: “Ebo Quansah Attends Lecture and Encounters the Next President.’ Some of us are already convinced that you are going to be the next president of Ghana but some people out there are campaigning that you are a liar.

“All over the rural areas, when you go and you talk about your achievements and what you intend doing, the old folks will say, ‘Ah, but the people came here and said you are a liar.’ Now, you are telling us that you represent the future. Please, how do you convince my elder sister in my village (sic) – an 82-year-old lady, that she should get up, drag herself and go and vote for a man who is for the future? I just want you to tell the people of Ghana who you are, why you want to be president of this republic.”

This is not all and it does not capture the full extent of the summary of the Bawumia Hosts the Media encounter, but it reflects the saying that ‘we are not in normal times.’

The debates and the conversations can now begin in your homes, your offices and in the marketplaces.