Salute to President Kufuor: Perfume, a pick-up and press freedom
It is well known that the period when the New Patriotic Party was on an offensive to win the presidency from Flt-Lt Jerry John Rawlings, was also the years when the Ghanaian media were battling numerous problems from the then government.
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He and ‘Auntie’ Theresa always received me warmly, and Auntie would complain playfully that I wasn’t visiting them enough.
The picture above shows
Surprise gift
On one occasion when I went to the house,
I thought it was a joke and I replied, laughing, that anything would do.
To my astonishment, he came back with a parcel which he gave me, saying that he had brought me something from London, as he had promised! It was a bottle of a famous brand of perfume. I was elated, to put it mildly. It was such an unexpected, nice and uplifting gesture.
I believe that it was his way of showing appreciation that some of us made it possible for the views of the political opposition to be heard, despite the challenges.
That perfume bottle had pride of place on my dressing table for many years, even long after the last drop had been shaken out.
Citation presentation
Fast forward to 2006 when
My administration was going to hand over to a new GJA leadership at the Awards Night
Also, we had a framed citation to present to him for his government’s unprecedented, outstanding and sustained support of the media and press freedom.
The Kufuor administration had earlier donated to the GJA, under the Gifty Affenyi-Dadzie administration, the building which is now the Ghana International Press Centre (inaugurated by President Kufuor on March 28, 2003.)
Later, the GJA got another donation from the Kufuor Government, a pick-up vehicle.
The 11th Awards Night on Friday, May 5, 2006, was a night of ‘firsts’
Furthermore, most important of all, I am proud to state, it was the first time a President of Ghana attended the GJA Awards Night.
Your Excellency, on behalf of the media family in general, and the Editors Forum, Ghana, in particular, thank you again; and Happy Birthday from Ajoa Yeboah-Afari!
The writer is the Chairperson of the Editors Forum, Ghana and a past President of the Ghana Journalists Association (