A leading member of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP), Gabby Otchere Darko, has cautioned government appointees against answering questions from journalists when they have no answers.
He asked them to crosscheck, consult and prepare well before attempting to answer questions posed by the journalists.
“Small advice to prominent people, particularly government officials: Don’t ever feel compelled to comment straightaway when called by a journalist. You can always say, ‘I’m sorry can you please call me back later?’ It offers you the chance to crosscheck, consult and prepare well,” he said in a tweet.
His comments come after the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Regional Integration had denied knowledge of the widely circulated report that Ghana’s National Identity Card, the Ghana Card, is set to be recognized globally as a valid e-passport.
Speaking on Akoma FM’s current affairs and political show GhanAkoma Thursday, February 10, a Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Kwaku Ampratwum Sarpong, explained that “the report is not emanating from my ministry; hence officially I cannot confirm that Ghana Card is now e-passport”.
The Deputy Foreign Affairs Minister, who doubles as Member of Parliament for Asante Mampong, told host of the show Aduanaba Kofi Asante Ennin that “as at yesterday 9pm, I was in a meeting with my minister and she denied that and said topic is news to her because officially the report is not from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs”.
The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) on Wednesday, February 9 reported that holders of the Ghana Card, as well as its future biometric equivalents, can present it as official documentation at all 197 (ICAO) compliant countries and 44,000 airports worldwide and board flights to Ghana.
Mr Ampratwum further explained that the report is not officially from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs so further questions must be directed to the outfit which published the report.
“Maybe the report is from a higher authority because my minister and her two deputies of which I am part are not privy to the said report,” he added.
But Mr Ampratwum Sarpong, has admitted that his earlier assertion that his Ministry was unaware of the project to convert the Ghana Card into an e-passport was misreported.
In a statement issued on Friday, February 11, Mr Apratwum Sarpong, who is also the Member of Parliament for Asante Mampong, he said: “In fact in the course of the interview I did mention that the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is aware of the Project.”
By Laud Nartey|3news.com|Ghana