Moves To Make Kwamena Ahwoi Chief Of Staff

The inefficiency of the current Chief of Staff, Mr. Martey Newman, does not constitute only a major headache to President Mills, but has also provided fertile grounds for the many power blocs within the ruling party to stake claims to the position being held by the beleaguered head of cabinet. The intense lobbying, the Today newspaper gathered has pushed the President to the edge, very much uncomfortable though, but left with a little choice in the removal of his very good friend from the Castle as the head of government business. With obvious non-performance of his government, the President �Today� gathers, seems to be acquiescing to pressure from a section of NDC faithful who are moving for the candidature of Mr. Kwamena Ahwoi, a former Minister of Local Government and Rural Development in the first administration of the NDC to be Chief of Staff to inject the urgency required and raise the whip where necessary in the lethargic administration. Mr. Ahwoi is currently serving on the Local Government Board, where the President believes his rich experience in the Local Government services would be crucial for the success of his administration�s desire to develop the rural communities of the country. Other names making rounds are Mr. Paul Victor Obeng, a former Governmental Advisor in the NDC 1 administration and Nana Ato Dadzie, himself a former Chief of Staff, in the Rawlings led NDC administration of 1993 to 2000 and the least expected, Mr. Tony Aidoo. Mr. Obeng is said not to be keen in playing active role in the current administration and would prefer his back-stage role as a government al advisor; Nana Ato Dadzie, himself a part of the Fante Cabal in the Mills administration is in favour of the Kwamena Ahwoi selection while that of Dr. Tony Aidoo is not being favoured by many party stakeholders, although it would have been the dream wish of former President Rawlings. Further checks reveal that the President is bowing to internal pressure to raise the position of Chief of Staff to a Cabinet portfolio. That means like the previous administration, whoever is nominated or selected as the new Chief of Staff, would be required to go through Parliamentary vetting to be considered as Chief of Staff and minister of Presidential Affairs. Although many interest groups within the NDC might be staking claims for their preferred candidates, the Kwamena Ahwoi choice, �Today� discovered from further checks, seems to be appealing and acceptable to the many interest blocs, including the President. But it has not been easy for the President to make public pronouncement on the matter, let alone to go public on the Kwamena Ahwoi selection as Chief of Staff, especially at a time that he is smarting under a Rawlings outburst against some of the people he has selected to help him govern. Rawlings might fall short of mentioning names of those people he considers as greedy bastards that the President has surrounded himself with, but from all indications, Kwamena Ahwoi is one of such who the Rawlings allegations refer to. The others are his two siblings-Ato and Kwesi and Kofi Totobi Quakyi who has an office at the presidency. He is also the Board Chairman of the National Communication Authority (NDCA). In the case of Kwesi Ahwoi, it is no more secret that the all powerful kitchen cabinet Cabal of the President which is dominated by the Ahwois, are packaging him for a major stake in the NDC presidential nomination 2012. And depending on the circumstance that is likely to prevail in 2012, Kwesi Ahwoi would be looking into either the penultimate presidential slot of the NDC or the party�s vice presidential nomination.