The flag-bearer of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Akufo-Addo has descended heavily on the government, condemning its boycott of Multimedia Group Limited, saying it is shocking and unprecedented. He described the government’s action as unconstitutional. Government Tuesday announced its decision to boycott media organizations operating under the Multimedia Group Limited, citing unfair treatment. It also banned the group's journalists from covering government functions. As the boycott enters day four, Nana Akufo-Addo told journalists in Accra, Friday, that the government's action is a retrogressive move and shocking. “I am astonished that at the time that we have a lawyer of some repute as a president, such actions are being taken, clearly unconstitutional. “The media are being penalized because the government decides for itself what is fair coverage, that is not the business of government.” Nana Addo stated that under the NPP administration, the government had no cause to take such a drastic measure even though the party had “a lot of problems with many parts of the media. Never did it occur to Kufuor to take this sort of gesture.” Freedom of speech is the most important freedom, he explained, without it the other freedoms cannot flourish. That is why they say it is the first freedom, he explained. The former Attorney General and Minister of Justice under Kufuor’s regime said the constitution guarantees the freedom and independence of the media and “it is not for the government to decide what should be the content of media publications”. He remarked: “If president Mills is looking for unprecedented events on his period of stewardship to talk about – this is one of them.” The NPP flag-bearer said the government’s action is “one of the saddest” incidents in the Mills’ era with a tendency to erode gains made in Ghana’s democracy. “If we all don’t stand up, especially those of you in the media don’t stand up on this issue today, tomorrow we will find the space of freedom in our country systematically being limited and eroded." He recalled how the NPP government, while he was the Attorney General, “worked hard” to repeal the criminal libel law as to broaden the space for media freedoms in the country. "We need to build on that and not to take decisions that put those things in decline, and then we go backwards instead of going forwards in our march towards a fully democratic future in Ghana where these fundamental freedoms are guaranteed.” He therefore warned: “If we allow it to stay like that, it is a slippery slope to tyranny and dictatorship.” According to Nana Addo, President Mills has been awarding himself high marks and patting himself for good work done. “He is saying a lot of complimentary things about himself, why does he worry that other people don’t seem to share his views that everything that is going on in this country is rosy. I don’t think that is a good step.”