The Ministry of the Presidency has announced that President David Granger will host his first press conference for this year on Friday, August 31, 2018.
An advisory from the Ministry noted that the press conference is scheduled to commence at 11:00hrs in the Rupununi Room of the Ministry of the Presidency.
The President’s last press conference was December 15, 2017; it was also his second press conference since he assumed office in 2015.
President Granger has been heavily criticised by the Guyana Press Association and other officials for not engaging the media on a frequent basis.
He had told reporters on July 9, 2018, that his busy schedule has kept him from having formal engagements with the media.
“My heart is in the right place but right now, I’ve had a really difficult period of public engagement and overseas travel,” the President had said.
The media have been tackling the Head of State on the sidelines of his events and majority of the times the questions are limited by his PR staff, some of whom have been known to be rude to the press.
A Stabroek News editorial in July pointed out that the lack of engagements with the press by the President is a disregard for the role of the media in holding the government accountable.
The President previously entertained questions from the media on a pre-recorded programme ‘The Public Interest’ once per week and included two journalists – one from the private media and one from the state media on topical issues.
However, this programme no longer exists.
