Mahama�s Metro TV Interview Needless � Kwesi Pratt

Managing Editor of the Insight Newspaper, Kwesi Pratt has described as �needless� the interview granted by the President to Metro TV�s Good Evening programme, last week. Commenting on the importance of the interview on Accra-based Radio Gold, Mr. Pratt maintained that the interview would not have been necessary if the President had an effective communication team. �I asked myself what was said in the interview which could not have been said by the Board chairman of GRIDCo, or the boss of VRA etc�?� he asked rhetorically. President John Mahama last week granted an interview on Metro TV Good Evening Ghana programme where he used the opportunity to speak on current happenings in the country. Issues addressed in the interview included the on-going cocaine case and issues affecting energy generation and distribution. However, the President abstained from giving a timeline on the ending of the power crisis insisting that �I have learnt my lessons.� Mr Pratt however believes the interview as 'needless' insisting that the President, unlike his counterparts in other countries has not been speaking as an authority on issues since he assumed office. �Now I asked myself, what was the purpose of the interview after watching the interview�yes it may show that the President may have been brilliant but was that the purpose of the interview�?� he asked. The refusal of the President to give a deadline for the ending of the energy crisis, Mr. Pratt said is a confirmation of how bad the communication apparatus at the Presidency has been. �What is it that has taken the President to the point where he is no longer able to make promises�the briefs he has been given have turned out not to be that correct, so he says that Dumsor-Dumsor will end this time and it doesn�t come to pass�,� he shouted on the station. He stated that the President's confession shows how his handlers have failed him and would continue to do so if he fails to change them. Mr Pratt has therefore advised President Mahama to �fortify� himself since his handlers have not managed communication from the presidency well.