It is with so much pain and agony that we the members of a coalition of youth groups in Tamale wish to state our dissatisfaction and disenchantment about the exclusion of Mr. Kwabena Akyeampong alias Kobby Akyeampong in the government of president Mahama, after the 2012 general elections.

We have watched patiently and quietly and we have had to issue this statement, after a careful evaluation of the efforts he made towards the success of the NDC prior to the 2008 and 2012 general election. He is a very strong pillar of the party and for the various youth groups dotted all over the country.

Mr. Kobby Akyeampong as he is popularly known, stood thick and thin by the NDC and fought tooth and nail in order that our dear party (NDC) will flourish. He opened his home to us anytime we are in Accra even when we have not informed him of our visits.

Your Excellency, despite of the fact that Mr. Kobby does not hail from the Northern region, he has always extended to us a hand of support without any hesitation anytime we ask for help. Indeed he has supported many youth groups in Tamale with financial resources, party paraphernalia and helped in finding employment for some of our members.

We have also been witnesses to his regular radio and television debates and interviews through which he espouses the ideals of the party and the programmes and policies of the government in enhancing the better Ghana Agenda. He is an activist who gets things done very well for the party and government.

We also believe that Mr. Kobby Akyeampong who is the former deputy minister for tourism and interior respectively under president Mills and president Mahama’s Government has garnered enormous experience that puts him on a higher pedestal to confront any task assigned to him by the president. His experience gained before entering government and now is immense and very crucial that we find his exclusion as unfair and to the detriment of the party, government and Ghana as a whole.

Mr. Kobby Akyeampong chalked a lot of successes, some of which have been summarized below.

Deputy Minister for the Interior • Assisted Minster for developing and implementing government policy on public safety and security • Served on the governing board of the Narcotics Control Board, • Auctioneers Board, • Immigration Quota Committee • Ministry Entity Tender Committee • NADMO Emergency Preparedness Platform • National Election Taskforce for 2012 General Elections • Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering (FATF) • Led inspection teams to South Africa and Belgium to facilitate acquisition of police equipment and logistics

As a Deputy Minister for Tourism, he functioned effectively by doing the following: • Assisted Minster for developing and implementing government policy on Tourism • Helped in guiding National Tourism Bill through cabinet sub-committee to parliament • Helped secure funding from Korea with respect to Tourism Information Billboards across the country • Helped in securing funding for the construction of national tourism information centre • Developed a close working relationship with the UNWTO STEP Foundation resulting in the construction of 12 new ‘Thank You’ small libraries for various communities

In all these tasks, he acquitted himself extremely well displaying vividly his excellent leadership skills and qualities.

At the party level, he has been instrumental in helping so many youth groups across the country to find their niche and also develop their understanding of the principles that underlie the NDC’s Social Democratic philosophy. We the youth are intensely inspired and motivated by him and at this time we truly feel disadvantaged since his capacity to continue to be our champion has been diminished and subdued through his exclusion.

Finally Mr. President, we have learnt that, “A nation that does not honour its heroes is not worth dying for”. It is against this backdrop that we are making a passionate appeal to you to find an appropriate appointment for Mr. Kwabena Akyeampong who is our immediate past deputy interior minister, because we believe you to be a listening president and will heed to our plea.

Signed Spokesperson;Ibrahim Issahaku 0236493050