Dig Out Past Misdeeds Of Aspirants - Coomson

With various presidential aspirants angling for fertile media turf to market themselves to the people of Ghana, publisher of the hard-hitting Chronicle Group of newspapers, Nana Kofi Coomson has advised journalists to shrug off the comradeship at such media encounters, toughen their positions on the aspirants and dig out their past misdeeds, including their relationships with women and other dark deeds in the past.

Speaking in an exclusive interview with The Heritage on Tuesday, the veteran investigative journalist and a known graft buster, said journalists should move at full throttle in exposing the aspirants and asking them tough questions about their past dealings and performances in the previous positions they had held. "It is the job of the media to ask questions by looking at the track records of the aspirants, measure them against the expectations of the people because we shouldn't give open cheque but rather subject them to scrutiny and the media has the responsibility to subject everyone of them to scrutiny ... the presidential aspirants could be Nana Addo or Aliu, NDC has its own; we have to look at Akosa too and all those aspirants.

"It is easier to make promises but when it comes to implementation it is difficult... most of them have been technocrats or ministers in their previous lives ..... what did they do when they were ministers? "We should not go soft on them; it would be disgraceful if we go soft on them. We should subject everyone of them to scrutiny because they are the people who said they would build schools, hospitals, so what is their budgets? What is the total money the country has? .... The media must know these things so as to be able to challenge them when they come to us with promises.

"If Nana Addo for example, is able to convince or talk to the media, there would be 17 other candidates to meet the media to present their credentials and message to the media the reason why they want to be president. In that case, the media has a job in evaluating the promises he made when he was the Attorney General and Minister for Foreign Affairs and presently being just member of the party without any ministerial position?the media has a responsibility to the nation,? Coomson said."

The veteran journalist, reputed for his daring investigative' expedition especially during the early days of the nation's democracy told The Heritage paper that Akufo Addo's media encounter on Tuesday in his memory is not a novelty as is being bandied in some quartets, saying similar exercises had taken place in the past. "His is not a novelty. In 1996, there were seven presidential candidates and they went through the ten regions talking to the delegates to vote for them. But this time around, it's just that the number is large, so it's not something that is new, we have seen that before ... I recall with pride that I played a ma?jor role in them," he said.

Credited for his major role in the development of investigative journalism in the country, Coomson told the Heritage that, going for the position of the presidency is not like going for the position of an assembly member, so the moment one enters the race to become the president of the country one loses one's privacy; the media should probe to even know the candidate's blood group. "When you aspire to be a president, you don't aspire to be just an assembly member. You aspire to be the leader of the nation and you lose your privacy; you would have to know Nana Addo's blood group, I personally have made it an issue that if you want to be an MP, you may get away with certain things but wanting to be the president then you should be ready for everything," the Chronicle publisher added.

Commenting on his apparent rigid position on Nana Akufo Addo and his earlier claims that he could not sleep with two eyes closed if the nation was entrusted in the hands of the former Foreign Minister and NPP presidential aspirant, Coomson said he has nothing against Nana Addo in person and those earlier claims were made in a certain context. He told the paper that Nana Addo personally called him and he was sure of attending Tuesday's media encounter organized by the former Foreign Minister. "I said it in a context. I do not know the question they asked me that made me say that but I said it in context. It is really unfortunate that, I do not remember that question.

"Nana Addo called me yesterday hoping that I attend the function. I do not have any personal differences with him. I was in his corner. I remember in 1998 I supported him against Kwamena Bartels on Joy FM ... and so I know him quite well. I know him enough to evaluate him and put him at a certain tight corner ... but times have changed and my personal views may be different from the national interest. "May be later I will check the reasons for saying those things.

"The constitution puts the leadership power into one person and that person becomes the omnipotent and that fellow can affect the lives of many people and the media must know him very well. "You have to put him under the microscope. You should not spare anybody at all. We would have four presidential candidates but one would emerge as the president. However, we have from now to December to know them. During these times we should put them under scrutiny every other week," said Kofi Coomson.