But for the obvious miscommunication by the head of Communication at the Presidency, the infamous news report on a �mansion� being built by President John Mills would have died a natural death, Editor in Chief of the New Crusading Guide has said.
Kweku Baako Jnr. is convinced that Koko Anyidoho goofed badly in his reaction to a Searchlight newspaper report in which President John Mills is said to be building a mansion as part of his better Ghana mantra.
Mr. Anyidoho in his first reaction on Adom FM last Monday had categorically denied that the structure was a mansion. He explained it was an outhouse, a place of convenience for the president's security guards.
He stated further the house was the initiative of Regimanuel Gray as a "token" to the president who has bought their facility.
Subsequently on Joy FM, Koku Anyidoho said a payment plan has been put in place for the president to pay back the cost of building. He later on led a section of the media to the purported location of the outhouse in which he read copies of correspondence between the president and Regimanuel Gray dated April 7, 2011, asking the latter to put up the outhouse.
He told the reporters the outhouse is supposed to be a rental facility for the president but will be owned by Regimanuel Gray Ltd.
Critics say the responses by Koku Anyidoho are inconsistent, contradictory and should not be coming from the head of communications at the presidency.
On Joy FM/MultiTv news analysis programme Newsfile on Saturday Kweku Baako minced no words in chiding the head of Communications for blowing hot and cold on the matter.
He argued the correspondence which Koku Anyidoho so eloquently read to reporters did not emanate from the moon and that it has been available before the head of Communications granted his first response to the media on the matter.
He said all Koku Anyidoho ought to have done was to have deferred when the question was put to him initially, if it was the case that he was not privy to the information at the time.
Kweku Baako argued the president�s integrity was on the line, and the contradictions by his Communication�s head only served to create more doubts in the minds of the people.
He was appalled that even in the face of these contradictions, Anyidoho swore to take on media houses, some of whom had erred in publishing the story.
He hoped Koku Anyidoho would have learnt from his mistakes and would not commit similar blunders.
The New Patriotic Party Member of Parliament for Dormaa West, Kweku Agyemang Manu who was also on the show, said Koku Anyidoho failed in carrying out his fundamental duty of communicating to the people.
He said the duty of the head of communications at the presidency is to make people understand issues but if 99.9 per cent of the people misunderstood him then he has failed in his core duty and must be shown the exit.
Koku Anyidoho who called into the show vehemently dismissed assertion that he had erred.
He said the word �token� which he had used in his first interview cannot be said to mean a gift but rather a �kind gesture� from Regimanuel Gray Ltd and challenged critics to a dictionary contest.
According to him, the estate developer does not under normal circumstances allow such a structure on their facility and to have bent backwards to allow the president to put up such a structure is enough justification for his use of the word token.
He added he was not under any obligation to provide a detailed response when he was posed the question on Adom FM but in a spirit transparency did so.
He was highly critical of Peacfmonline, which he said had blown the story with a slant and out of proportion.
Source: Myjoyonline.com/Ghana
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