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Mr. Samuel Ofosu-Ampofo, former local Government Minister in the last administration, has been penciled down as the next Deputy Chief of Staff in the Office of Presidency. Indications from top officials of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) say the President will be naming the party strongman to assist Mr. Prosper Douglas Kweku Bani, the new Chief of Staff, in the next few days. President Mahama was criticized for omitting the names of party top people in his first choice of office-holders at the presidency, and the choice of Ofosu-Ampofo is seen as an attempt to remedy the situation. Party executives say they welcome the news, adding that it will not be surprising. �After all, he is a long friend of the President. They have been friends since 1996 during their days as parliamentarians, and are sure still on good terms,� a leading party member told The Finder. He added that Ofosu-Ampofo was prevailed upon by the President to discontinue attempts to challenge the Tema East elections which he narrowly lost to Mr. Titus Glover in the just-ended elections. When The Finder contacted Ofosu-Ampofo on Saturday, the former minister said he had heard the news but there has not been any official communication to him about his appointment; so �for now it remains a rumour.� The Tema West NDC Constituency chairman, Mr. Isaac Robert Fobih, who also confirmed having heard the news, told The Finder that Ofosu-Ampofo�s possible appointment to the Castle has been a subject of discussions among the top hierarchy of the executives of the constituency for some time now. �I am in Takoradi now; even yesterday I had a call from someone on the same issue. My executives knew about this before I was informed.� Commenting on the development, Mr. Fobih said if the President confirmed �their man� as the Deputy Chief of Staff, then it would be a very good choice since Ofosu-Ampofo has brought hope and respect to the NDC party in Tema. �For the first time, we nearly won the seat. We had over 39,000 votes, a little below what NPP got. No DC [DCE], no parliamentary candidate in Tema has ever done what he has done for the constituency. Even some NPP members were disappointed with his loss,� the NDC chairman noted. Mr. Fobih added that Ofosu-Ampofo engineered a number of developments for Tema, which resulted in the performance of the party in the city. He was behind the rehabilitation of the mortuary and accident centre at the Tema General Hospital, the construction of the sewage system in Community Three, and a number of lighting and streets projects. �Go to the Tema and Chemu Secondary schools and see what he has done there,� he said.