Occupy Flagstaff House: Only 6 Media Men Allowed Into Presidency

A number of media personnel who were assigned to cover the �Occupy Flagstaff House� demonstration were denied access to the Flagstaff House to observe the presentation of the petition. Only six out of the over 20 media personnel were allowed access to the seat of government to cover the presentation of the petition. It involved one person each from Daily Graphic, Ghanaian Times, Citi FM, Metro TV and Joy FM. The Deputy Chief of Staff, Dr Valerie Sawyerr received the petition on behalf of President John Mahama. Security personnel at the Flagstaff House who prevented all media personnel from observing the presentation said their action was for 'security reasons'. Their excuse was that the room in which the petitioners were going to be received was too small to accommodate all media personnel. Eventually, after negotiations with the police, five leaders of the police and six media personnel were allowed into the presidency to present and cover the presentation. The Deputy Chief of Staff, who received the petition, said the government would look into it and respond to the concerns of the petitioners. She said while the government appreciated the concerns listed in the petition, it would also welcome suggestions on how to solve the numerous challenges in the petition. The �Occupy Flagstaff House� demonstration which was organised by the Concerned Ghanaians for Responsible Governance, with the initial plan of picketing in front of the Flagstaff House ended up converging at the Efua Sutherland Children�s Park per arrangements with the police. Numbering over 200, the demonstrators included Ace Kojo Ankomah, a legal practitioner; Yoofi Grant of Databank; Dr Esi Ansah, lecturer at the Ashesi University; Kofi Kapito, CEO of Consumer Protection Agency; Ken Ofori Atta, a co-founder of Databank and a former MTN Chief Marketing Officer, George Andah. They wore red and black and carried placards some of which read �The king is naked�, �Boys abrƐ�, �I vote�no confidence, onukpa bƐ shia, shame�, �No more corruption, prosecute thieves�.