Popular legal practitioner and social activist Oliver Barker-Vormawor has condemned the campaign team of Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia for allegedly paying journalists who attended his recent media encounter in Accra.
Soon after the media encounter, which was held on Sunday, August 25, rumors began to circulate that large sums of money were paid to journalists in attendance. Some of the rumors suggested that GH₵ 20,000 was given to certain pressmen soon after the event ended.
However, these rumors have been addressed by Fact-check Ghana, a subsidiary of the Media Foundation of West Africa. Although the website couldn’t confirm that GH₵ 20,000 was paid, it did confirm through its investigation that journalists received between GH₵ 2,000 and GH₵ 10,000.
The spokesperson for the Vice President’s campaign team, Dennis Miracles Aboagye, also confirmed these payments, according to Fact-check Ghana.
Reacting to this, Mr. Barker-Vormawor said that doling out cash to pressmen for such events could compromise their integrity.
In a post on Facebook, the social activist expressed concern over how Ghanaians are handling the issue, as he believes it should ignite a national conversation.
He said, “It is not strange to me that the Vice President’s aid was directing media people how to report on what the VP said. That when the VP makes cringe comments, add a laughing to it.”
Mr. Barker-Vormawor continued that “Our politics monetizes everything for a reason. Everyone can be bought if they allow themselves to.”
He further suggested that “Media houses need a policy on transparency and disclosures. If they can’t afford to cover transport for their journalists, I would rather media houses directly deal with the candidates and organizations and say this is how much we charge to offer coverage even at pressers.”
