{"id":392645,"date":"2018-01-18T07:53:50","date_gmt":"2018-01-18T07:53:50","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/citifmonline.com\/?p=392645"},"modified":"2018-01-18T10:58:36","modified_gmt":"2018-01-18T10:58:36","slug":"mfwas-assessment-questions-journalists-asked-nana-addo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2018\/01\/mfwas-assessment-questions-journalists-asked-nana-addo\/","title":{"rendered":"MFWA lists best & worst questions at Nana Addo’s media encounter"},"content":{"rendered":"
Today (January 17, 2018), the President of Ghana, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, hosted journalists from various media organisations in Ghana to respond to their questions on the performance of his government in the first year and the general state of affairs in the country.<\/p>\n
Commonly referred to as \u201cPresidential Media Encounter,\u201d the event is the second since the President assumed office on January 7, 2017. The first media encounter was held in July 2017.<\/p>\n
The Media Foundation for West Africa (MFWA) sees the exercise as an important initiative that helps to deepen the culture of democratic governance in Ghana. The event serves as a platform that allows the President to account to the people on his stewardship. We therefore commend the President and the government for following the footsteps of predecessor governments as far as the regular media encounters are concerned.<\/p>\n
In order to help guide post-event reflections on the usefulness of the event and to provide useful insights for future events, the MFWA presents its perspectives of today\u2019s media encounter. The analysis assesses the overall arrangement and format of the event, quality of the questions that were asked, the quality of the President\u2019s responses to the questions and makes some recommendations for future encounters.<\/p>\n
Thus, this document is presented with the following sections: format of the event; quality of questions asked; critical missing pieces, the President\u2019s performance and recommendations.<\/p>\n
Format of the Event<\/strong><\/p>\n The event was generally well organised. The President was well composed, articulate and created an atmosphere of conviviality throughout the event. The President\u2019s introductory address was, however, too long and tended to focus nearly exclusively on the achievements of the government with almost no focus on failures, missed targets and challenges.<\/p>\n The procedure on selecting those to ask questions could have been better coordinated right from the beginning. For example, an expectation was created that there would be an opportunity for journalists from each of the regions to ask a question but it did not turn out so. However, the effort to ensure gender balance in the filing of questions is commendable.<\/p>\n Quality of Questions Asked<\/strong><\/p>\n A total of 20 journalists asked questions on various issues and sectors. These questions were analysed and this report presents the MFWA\u2019s perspectives on some of the best and worst questions. Analyses of the quality of questions were based on basic principles of good questioning such as: relevance of the question; whether a question was a leading question; whether the question had good background and contextualisation; the clarity of the question and whether a question made references to data, facts and illustration. Using these principles, some questions were found to be really good while others were judged to be poor.<\/p>\n The following three questions were found to be the best of the day:<\/p>\n The question was relevant and purposeful. The questioner provided useful background and context. It wasn\u2019t framed in a close-ended way and asked with clarity.<\/em><\/p>\n This was a very useful follow-up after the President had sought to dismiss the usefulness of the on-going bipartisan parliamentary enquiry on the issue of \u201ccash for seats.\u201d The question was clear and precise.<\/em><\/p>\n The questioner provided good background and context including quotes. It was a question that probed the delivery of the government on key promises and its failure to meet publicly announced deadlines<\/em>.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n The following were found to be the worst questions asked:<\/p>\n By far, this was the worst question of the day. It lacked relevance and context.<\/em><\/p>\n While there may have been a number of foreign dignitaries coming in at the same time it cannot be described as an unprecedented phenomenon. It appears to be a question that sought to provide an opportunity for the President to tout the achievement of his administration.<\/em><\/p>\n The question was not clear. It lacked purpose and relevance as no context was provided.<\/em><\/p>\n The background to the question lacked focus and what ultimately was the question was factually incorrect because Ghana has a development plan as was alluded to by the President in his response.<\/em><\/p>\n Other Observations:<\/strong><\/p>\n The question on the menace of vigilante groups asked by Eyram Bashan of EIB Network was a question on a relevant issue. The value of the question was however undermined by the questioner\u2019s reference to the weak capacity of the security agencies to deal with the issue. The President in his response then makes reference to the weak capacity as cited by the journalists as part of the challenges in dealing with the menace.<\/p>\n Kojo Yankson asked a question about the justification for the appointment of 110 Ministers and whether or not it was time for the President to reduce the number. Given that it was one of the issues that the President had already addressed in his introductory remarks, that question had become redundant.<\/p>\n Other Critical Issues that were missed<\/strong><\/p>\n The President\u2019s Performance<\/strong><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong>Overall, the President was composed and demonstrated knowledge on many of the issues around which questions were raised. In cases where the President did not have an idea or could not respond to a question, he demonstrated honesty. For example, he made it clear that the 2014 World Cup Committee White Paper was not on his radar. He also admitted the inability of his administration to meet the deadlines on the issuance of the National ID and the rollout of the mobile interoperability system. In some instances, he relied on his sector ministers to deal with specific questions relating to specific sectors, which we deem a good strategy.<\/p>\n The low points on the President\u2019s performance were on his responses to the question on vigilantism. For example, the President\u2019s reference to how overwhelmed the security agencies are in dealing with the problem of vigilante groups cannot be justified. Indeed, the problem is one of lack of political will and not limited capacity on the part of the security agencies to deal with the problem.<\/p>\n The worst moment in the president\u2019s responses was his attempt to discount or dismiss the on-going bi-partisan investigations into what has become known as the \u201ccash for seat\u201d saga. Indeed, the President\u2019s comment devalues the on-going work of the bi-partisan committee. This is especially so because the President in his introductory remarks took pride in the fact that under the first year of his administration, a number of bi-partisan investigative committees have been set up to investigate allegations of wrongdoing.<\/p>\n Recommendations for Future Encounters<\/strong><\/p>\n –<\/p>\n Source: MFWA<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Today (January 17, 2018), the President of Ghana, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, hosted journalists from various media organisations in Ghana to respond to their questions on the performance of his government in the first year and the general state of affairs in the country. Commonly referred to as \u201cPresidential Media Encounter,\u201d the event is the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":392536,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[5],"tags":[3,93,16222],"yoast_head":"\n\n
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