Had it not been a phone interview, a personal encounter would have erupted between Hon Zita Okaikoi, the Minister of Information, and Kwabena Amoako, a reporter from the Statesman newspaper. Zita Okaikoi complained that Kwabena Amoako had surreptitiously planted a cellular phone with recording capabilities in her handbag without her knowledge, this she said, happened when she visited the Statesman’s office as part of her familiarization tour of media houses since she became a minister, so as to identify their challenges and help solve them.

Speaking to Peace FM, Hon. Okaikoi said it was a deliberate attempt by the reporter to record or monitor her activities, which was illegal. She described the act as intruding into her privacy because if she had not seen the phone earlier, she could have naively handed it over to Kwabena after it had captured her private conversations. She said she became furious when Kwabena sent information to some radio stations that she (Zita) had stolen his phone.

In reaction to Hon. Okaikoi’s statement, Kwabena who was also on phone listening to Zita described her statement as false stating, “I am really astonished by her statement, it is a lie”.

According to him, the minister made a mistake and picked up the phone while it was on the table where she sat. He also dismissed the allegation that he reported the incident to some radio stations to the effect that Hon. Okaikoi had stolen his phone.

Kwabena who was clearly unhappy about the minister’s accusation said “if this is how Hon. Okaikoi wants to make this story, I will also advise myself”, he added.