<<Print>>

John Jinapor, the affable spokesperson of President John Mahama is certain to be named as a Deputy Minister when the list of the next batch of Deputy Ministers is released. However, this paper was unable to sift from its very reliable source which Minister he will be working for. Information picked up by the Daily Post newspaper indicates that the President has had his full list of Deputies ready for some days now after consulting the various sector Ministers and the hierarchy of the NDC. However, a plea for further consultation by some leaders of the party concerning some persons on the list has resulted in the delay in sending the list to Parliament. John Jinapor has been the official Spokesperson for Mahama from the days when the President was Running Mate to the then Candidate Atta Mills. He is much admired for his calm demeanour and use of decent language in his political discourse. Meanwhile, as published last week, with a number of the top brass of the military due for retirement, the Armed Forces Council is expected to be constituted by the end of this week. Some of the commanders of the various units are either due for retirement or have long passed their retirement dates. Official sources at The Square, which houses the Ministry of Defence, indicated last week that the President commenced consultation with service commanders he intends to replace and those he intends to appoint. This process will lead to the reconstitution of the Armed Forces Council in consultation with the Council of State. With the constitution of the Armed Forces Council, retirements and promotions are expected to be announced soon after. There has been some concern in the army over a top heavy military brass full of Generals who have reached or passed their retirement dates, thus blocking upward movement of younger officers into positions of command. Consultations have been ongoing with the involvement of the current service commanders. 'Daily Post' can confirm that having completed his ministerial nominations which may be in the public domain soon, President Mahama�s next attention is on the security chiefs.