Ministers run away, as confusion hits Flagstaff House

• Posted on July 15, 2014
• by Nana Kwesi Coomson
• Comment

Presidential staffers at the Flagstaff House have been overawed and compelled to maintain tight-lips over the recent ‘Green Letter’ issued to them by President John Dramani Mahama, about their exit from government, DAILY GUIDE has gathered.

Sources indicate that the topic has become so sensitive that officials are afraid to open up, fuelling speculations of an inherent fear of President Mahama’s reported decision to replace many of his advisors and aides in the coming weeks.

DAILY GUIDE’s attempts to contact deputy Minister of Information and Media Relations, Felix Kwakye Ofosu and the Director of Communications at the presidency, Ben Dotsei Malor for clarification were not acknowledged.

After several calls, DAILY GUIDE sent the following text message to the two but did not receive any response: “…We [Daily Guide] gather the Presidency is in a serious state of panic, following the ‘Green Letter’ handed to presidential staffers by the President last week. Could you kindly clarify this information?”

The request for clarification as contained in the text message was ignored.

Sources disclosed that the majority of Presidential staffers and advisors have received their letters stating that the President is ‘re-aligning’ his administration. The letter is said to have also warned them that the move could inevitably affect the job of some of them.

The letter that has generated massive public interest is said to be a precursor to an imminent sacking of many of the recipients in the latest attempt to make the administration potent.

The ‘Green Letters’ are said to have been personally signed by President Mahama, sending a thick wave of uncertainty in the presidency as the job security of those who received the letters hang in the balance.

Untouchables

Meanwhile, DAILY GUIDE has gathered that the shake-up may not affect the President’s Executive Secretary Dr. Raymond Atuguba, Senior Presidential Advisor Baba Kamara and Dr. Sulley Gariba Senior Policy Advisor.

According to sources, the three were the only ones, out of the scores of presidential staffers, who were not issued with the July 4, 2014 ‘Green Letter’ handed to the staffers.

DAILY GUIDE has been unable to confirm the exact content of the letter and its various implications, but sources indicate that the letter explained to recipients that their services have been appreciated by the Presidency, and that President Mahama is realigning his entire administration; a move that will inevitable affect some of them.

Prior Notice

On Wednesday July 7, President Mahama is alleged to have convened an emergency cabinet meeting where he made his intentions known, reminding his appointees about some planned changes in his administration that may affect some of them. The President is also said to have entreated the appointees to take the changes in good faith if it affects them.

Turf War

According to sources, the confusion at the presidency may have been sparked by an alleged turf war between the President’s Executive Secretary Dr. Raymond Atuguba and his Chief of Staff Prosper Douglas Bani who may be on his way out, as staffers take sides with the two power-brokers.

Unconfirmed reports indicate that last Friday a worried Dr. Atuguba allegedly told the President he would want to step down.

The President is said to have been compelled to step into the internal wrangling, ordering a full scale purge of his staffers including his trusted loyalists.

The President’s move has been the main reason for the dispatch of the ‘Green Letters’.

Some Ministers of State who spoke to DAILY GUIDE on strict condition of anonymity confirmed serious cracks in the Cabinet with some Ministers who are not happy with the shabby treatment meted to them in the recent reshuffle also threatening to leave.

“My brother, some of us were not even told whether we were staying in Government or leaving. We all hear about these things from the media,” a worried Minister of State told DAILY GUIDE.

Late Friday night, DAILY GUIDE sources said the President called a meeting with his strategists, seeking advice on how to deal with the catastrophic in-fighting among his staffers.

The President is said to have been advised to show that he is still in charge by writing performance warning letters to sack some Ministers, and sacking non-performing Presidential staffers.

Headcount

Prominent staffers at the presidency including senior advisors like Dr. Nii Moi Thompson, Stanislav Xoese Dogbe, Dr. Clement Apaak and Dr. Michael Kpesah Whyte are all said to have been served with the notice.

Others, including Ben Dotsei Malor, the Director of Communications at the Presidency who was recently handed his appointment and James Agyenim Boateng, a special aide to Vice President Amissah Arthur, have all been given their letters.

Enter Spio-Garbrah et al

Meanwhile, sources indicate that some veterans in the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) including Dr Kwesi Botchwey, former Finance Minister, Dr Ekwow Spio-Garbrah, former Minister of Communications and Nana Ato Dadzie, a former Chief of Staff, are expected to surface in the new scheme of things in President Mahama’s realigned administration at the Presidency.

 By Raphael Ofori-Adeniran & Charles Takyi-Boadu