“Dictator” Speaker Ocquaye Threatens Journalists with ‘Fire and Brimstone’

Speaker of Parliament, Prof Mike Ocquaye, in a shocking rant today has threatened journalists in Parliament with sanctions if they leave the chamber to cover press conferences held by members of the House while proceedings are ongoing.

The rather authoritarian threat smacking of media suppression by the Speaker follows a complaint by the Majority leader Osei Kyei-Mensah Bonsu on the floor of the House, Wednesday, February 26, 2020, that some members of the Parliamentary Press Corps left the Chamber to cover a parallel event during the debate in Parliament over President Akufo Addo’s State of the Nation’s Address (SONA).

Apparently, the journalists felt the press conference by the Ellembelle MP, Emmanuel Armah Kofi Buah, on the SONA was more exciting than what was happening in the chamber of Parliament.

The unscripted activity of the media was not amusing to the Speaker who raved on to the surprise of most people present in the legislative chamber, threatening to withdraw the accreditation of any journalists that did not fall in line.

Much to the chagrin of the anger journalists who felt their press freedom at risk in Parliament, the Speaker warned them to remember that they are just guests of the House and that press accreditation to cover Parliamentary business could be withdrawn if the journalists fail to heed his warning. 

He said the permission given journalists to cover proceedings in the House must be held in high esteem, hence they cannot go outside the Chamber itself and do some other work other than cover proceedings in the Chamber.

Meanwhile, the threat by the Speaker has been described by some members of the press as an affront on press freedom.

“The media are accredited to come and cover proceedings in the Chamber, any group or caucus that may want to engage the press could do so…  If proceedings are going on in the Chamber and you are accredited to cover the Chamber you can’t leave the Chamber at the beck and call of an intruder Member of Parliament to cover that Member of Parliament,” the Majority Leader Kyei Mensah-Bonsu reemphasised.

Interestingly, the Minority Leader, Haruna Iddrisu from the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) was in full support of the media suppression going on in Parliament, essentially urging the media to be guided by the threats issued by the Speaker.