Speaker Oquaye threatens to bar media from Parliament if…

The Speaker of Parliament, Prof Aaron Mike Oquaye on Wednesday urged the Parliamentary press corps to be mindful of their responsibilities in covering proceedings in the House and go about their duties with due diligence.

He warned that he would not hesitate to cause the press to be unwelcome guests to the House if they [press] failed to discharge such duties to the House responsibly.

He gave the warning prior to the start of the debate on the President’s 2020 State of the Nation Address (SONA) on Wednesday [February 26, 2020].

This was after the Majority Leader, Mr Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, had expressed strong reservation about the failure of the Parliamentary press corps to cover the debate on the SONA on Tuesday.

Mr Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu informed the Speaker that the press abruptly left the House to follow an individual Member of Parliament (MP) from the Minority side for an interview at the expense of business of the House.

At the start of the debate on the SONA, the Minority side announced that they were abstaining.

Following that majority of the press corps left the Chamber for a press conference by the MP for Ellembelle, Mr Emmanuel Armah Kofi Buah, who wanted to correct what he said were erroneous impressions created by the President during his SONA on the drilling of oil wells.

He said the impression created by President Akufo-Addo that not a single oil well was drilled by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) from 2013 to 2016 and other attempts by the current government to discredit the achievements of the NDC in the oil and gas sector.

Source: graphic.com.gh