The Executive Director of the Media Foundation for West Africa says criticisms of the media fanning public sentiments against MPs having police guards are unjustified.

Sulemana Braimah told Joy News' Evans Mensah that he found it mind-boggling to hear Deputy of Defense Minister Major Derrick Oduro (Rtd) make such accusations.

The Minister had said media is inciting the public against MPs after they requested police guard for all 274 of them in the wake of the murder of the Mfantseman MP, Ekow Quansah Hayford.

He told parliamentary press corps that it is through the media's reportage that has got the public speaking against the deployment of police officers to serve them.

“I haven’t read any editorial, and I refer to editorial because that is the opinion of the media organisation that seeks to pitch the public against our parliamentarians.

"I haven’t heard any discussions that are among journalists publicly saying that the public should rise up against this decision that has now been made,” Mr Braimah said in his rebuttal.

According to Mr Braimah, it is an unpopular decision among the public and it is not because they hate MPs as the MP was suggesting.

For him, the criticisms is because the public feel the general safety situation in the country is not the best and instead of the MPs to secure the safety of the people, they are rather securing their own safety.

"That is what the general public is saying, it is not out of hatred, it is out of concern to the fact that they feel MP who should represent their interest are now representing their own interest," he said.

Mr Sulemana noted that it's quite revealing that the Deputy Minister for Defence who is also a member of Parliament would say that members of the public hate parliamentarians.

He quizzed the Deputy Defence Minister on why he would think the people hate parliamentarians, that according to him will help address the problem of his insecurity.

“I think its quite revealing and perhaps I think we should probe more for him to tell us why he has come to the conclusion that members of the public hate parliamentarians, If its true then there must be a reason," he said.