Gov�t Explains Why Ken Kuranchie Has Been Sidelined�

It appears the Editor of the Daily Searchlight newspaper, Ken Agyei Kuranchie, is still not in the good books of the current administration. His running battle with then Communications Director at the Office of the Presidency, Koku Anydoho, and ex-communicator to then President John Evans Atta Mills� Editor�s Forum, is fresh in the minds of some Ghanaians. Mr Anyidoho, at a point in time, vowed that the newspaper editor will only have access to the seat of government over his dead body. A couple of years down the line, and even with a new president in charge, it seems the status quo still remains. Lawyer Abraham Amaliba, a self-acclaimed member of the organizing committee of the Daily Press Briefing at the Flagstaff House disclosed over the weekend that Ken Kuranchie and his Newspaper, the Daily Searchlight, have been deliberately excluded from the list of media houses invited to cover events at the seat of government because he is a �danger� to the national facility. ��you saw the foundation of a security post and you said President Mills was building a mansion. So it is dangerous to let you in there because when you see an egg, you would say it is an elephant. We don�t want such situations because you have consistently made yourself a character who will over blow things...he (Ken Kuranchie) is a threat to giving out information that is relevant and accurate,� Lawyer Amaliba insisted on Citi Fm. Lawyer Abraham Amaliba, who is also a member of the NDC�s legal team made these comments in reaction to a proposition by Mr. Kuranchie that invitations to the Daily Press briefing at the Flagstaff House be extended to �opposition� media houses. In the view of the �Daily Searchlight� newspaper Managing Editor, the briefing by Ministers of Information on a daily basis is a creative way of putting across the policies and programs of government to the populace but so far, it has not been done in the �right spirit� and that accounts for the low patronage recently. He further advised that the President, once in a while makes himself available at the briefing, that he believes could bring back the �steam� which the initiative it appears to be lacking. But Lawyer Amaliba refuted Ken�s assertions that the Daily Press Briefing is experiencing low patronage. He also maintained that the Daily Searchlight Newspaper has been excluded from the presidential press corp for good reasons.