Ghana is "paradise" to outsiders - Ayariga

Foreigners troop to Ghana to resettle or do business because they see the country as “paradise,” yet local media constantly paint a gloomy picture of the young oil producing country, that is the observation of Sports Minister Mahama Ayariga.

“Just tune in to radio stations every morning, you’ll think Ghana has stopped functioning: every morning [radio stations] killing the spirit of the people, killing the confidence of the people, creating an atmosphere of despondency, creating an atmosphere of hopelessness, yet when you step outside the shores of Ghana and step into other countries, they think Ghana is a paradise because they come here and they see the difference between Ghana and their countries,” Mr Ayariga told Muntie FM recently.

He has therefore charged Ghanaians to fight the “tyranny” of the media.

“As a people we must stand up against media tyranny. We’re fighting dictatorship of the Military, we’re fighting majoritarian dictatorship etc., there can also be media dictatorship, there can be media tyranny.

“When some people capture the media and they want to use it to paint everything about society black you must stand up to them,” the former Information Minister said.

Mr Ayariga recently described as “useless questions” certain enquiries made of him by journalists on live radio, regarding the expenditure on the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations which just ended in Equatorial Guinea.

In his view, Journalists, particularly morning show hosts are dwelling on “useless matters” and rather ignoring important issues such as how to strategise to concretise the achievements of the national football team at the Cup of Nations tournament.