MONROVIA – Presidential Press Secretary Kula Bonah Nyei Fofana on Thursday hosted a meeting with journalists inside Belle Casa Hotel on 3rd Street, the first since her appointment in January, 2024 to trash out differences she has had with them over criticisms that she was unfriendly, reserved and repulsive to media people.
At the meeting attended by Information Minister Jerelinmek Piah, Fofana acknowledged the criticisms against her and called for the turn of a new page.
In the last five months, Fofana has had sour relations with several media houses, reporters and editors who claimed that she was difficult to work with, to reach, too slow to share presidential news contents, and generally made reporting on the presidency an uphill task.
She however used the meeting organized with several media people to “smoke peace pipe” with them, and mutually share perspectives on how a new page could be turned to improve camaraderie and restore trust between her office and the media community.
She admitted being unable to pick up most calls from journalists because the bulk of calls she was receiving on her new jobs were mounting unofficial calls from friends and relatives, and most of them were interfering with her very busy schedules and activities. She said she had to evade most calls at the time, fearing they weren’t official and they were distracting.
Fofana also said during the onset of her job, she was under extreme pressure from official activities as she had to fit herself into the multiplicity of presidential schedules and meetings.
She expressed regret for being unavailable, for being seen as unfriendly to the media. She pleaded for a new level of engagement.
But as nerves were calming, she almost lighted another flame of fires when she announced a couple of measures that the media representatives at the meeting found abhorrent and rejectable.
The press secretary said the new measures included submission of police clearance, tax clearance, business registration certificate by media houses wishing to assign reporters to the Executive Mansion.
The press secretary’s proposed preconditions to have reporters assigned at her office enraged a couple of attendees at the meeting, who found them intimidating, particularly regarding request for police clearance from journalists before entering the Executive Mansion.
According to the media representatives, the press secretary needed to leave such requirements with employers of the journalists whose responsibility it is to take care of their employees or reporters’ record.
Fofana told her guests that she would take the journalists’ feedbacks and contentions to her bosses, perhaps the Minister of State for Presidential Affairs and the President himself.
Meanwhile, the journalists offered no further objections to issues of regular registration of media houses, and tax clearance and other certifications that they acknowledged any responsible media entity should possess.
The Minister of Information, Culture and Tourism Jerelimek Mathew Piah who attended the meeting also lauded members of the fourth estate for the good atmosphere that prevailed during the meeting, expressing the hope for cordial and inclusive working relationship intended “to drive our democracy in a better way”.