A former Ghana Journalists Association (GJA) President, Roland Affail Monney, has slammed the Member of Parliament (MP) for Abuakwa South, Samuel Atta Akyea, over his ‘let's hand Ghana over to an economist and not a journalist’ comment.

Speaking in an interview with GHOne TV, on August 22, 2024, Affail Monney indicated that the MP’s comment was unfortunate and was either made out of ignorance or just to score political points.

He added that the MP should know how important journalism is to the governance of the country because he has been working with journalists as a lawyer, a minister, and a legislator.

“This assertion is rooted in ignorance. This could be likened to a typical political talk and on such platforms, politicians who are consumed with all kinds of assumptions, spew all kinds of things just to either dazzle the audience or win votes. Journalism is a very serious business.

“The one who made the assertions is a learned Member of Parliament, well exposed, and he knows the importance of journalists. He has worked with journalists in his law firm. He has been working with journalists in parliament. Can you imagine the darkness which will envelop the whole second arm of government, Parliament, if the media should decide to boycott their activities? You can just imagine. So, I would dismiss it as mere political talk,” he said.

The veteran journalist added that the Abuakwa South legislator has created a mess for himself because he would be in trouble if the media decides to take action against him.

“And again, I’m disinclined to believe that he is out to set himself on a collision course with journalists... you can just imagine if your whole media committee decides to descend on Honourable Atta Akyea, the implications will be incalculable, to serve as a blazing warning to other political activists not to rope journalists into their campaign strategies,” he said.

What Atta Akyea said:

Speaking to journalists at the launch of the 2024 Manifesto of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), he said Dr. Bawumia’s expertise is the country’s best hope for economic recovery, warning against “gambling” with inexperienced leadership.

“We’re on Floor 41 yet, and I can tell you that when it comes to issues of the economy, we should hand over that issue to him," Atta Akyea said, highlighting Dr. Bawumia’s unique qualifications.

“For the first time, this country is going to have a president who is an economist, not a journalist.”

Watch Roland Affail Monney’s comments in the video below:



BAI/AE

Watch the latest episode of Everyday People below:





Ghana’s leading digital news platform, GhanaWeb, in conjunction with the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital, is embarking on an aggressive campaign which is geared towards ensuring that parliament passes comprehensive legislation to guide organ harvesting, organ donation, and organ transplantation in the country.