I left feeling ashamed anytime I met Mahama

Ace Investigative Journalist, Manasseh Azure Awuni has said he left feeling ashamed anytime he met the former President, John Dramani Mahama when he was still President of the country.

That he said was because despite being critical of the Mahama administration, there was no point in time he felt insecure in the company or around the former President.

He noted the former President treated him as though he had never written anything about him, and that made him felt ashamed.

“And I have had a number of encounters with the former President Mahama, I was one of the most critical journalists in the Mahama era but whenever I met Mahama, I left feeling even ashamed because Mahama will treat you in a way that will make you feel as though you have never written anything against him to the extent that when I was writing a book about him, some of his people said look Manasseh has done this to you, you have lost an election and he has the audacity to interview but he granted me the interview,” he revealed.

Speaking on TV3‘s TheKeyPoint about the recent attack on Citi TV/FM journalist, Caleb Kudah he said leadership had a way of influencing what their followers does and that exactly was what the former President did while in government.

He revealed even prior to the release of his book the “The Fourth John: Reign, Rejection & Rebound”, Mr Mahama assured him, he would not have any challenges as far as his supporters and party members were concerned because he had spoken.

Nana Addo’s silence on attack on media means an endorsement

He cited an incident where the late former President John Fiifi Atta-Mills personally called a Joy FM Journalist to apologies for an assault on his life by AMA guard, adding such example shows that the leadership do not countenance such behaviours hence followers would not do it also.

“I am trying to build a point that the leadership has a way of influencing how their followers behave. President Atta-Mills had to call a Joy FM Journalist at the time and apologies to him because AMA guards manhandled him, so it wasn’t the AMA Mayor, it wasn’t the Regional Minister, it wasn’t anybody but the President himself so if you are somebody serving in the regime or the administration this tells you that the man at the top will not countenance these actions against journalists so I better not do it,” he said.

Manasseh having suffered similar abuse in line of duty said the attack on the media was not new, however, what had not happened before was the seemingly silence of the President on the attacks on the media recently.

He quizzed if indeed Mr Caleb err in filming at a security zone as being reported, what was the offence of the Modern Ghana reporters who were rounded up and their offices raided by the National Security, among others who had been attacked in line of duty by same.

“In every single administration these breaches happen you have the security agencies, you have private people, you have politicians both in opposition and in government, they all happen, this is not new, what is becoming new is what appears to be the tacit endorsement of the state which is supposed to protect us and all these examples speak to it,” he said.

Source: GhanaPlus.com