You are here: HomeNews2013 12 03Article 293977

General News of Tuesday, 3 December 2013

Source: The Al-Hajj

Tony Aidoo in limbo over new ambassadorial post

Following his recent appointment by President John Dramani Mahama as Ambassador awaiting his country of postings, former Head of Policy Monitoring and Evaluation at the Presidency, Dr. Anthony Kwabena Aidoo is said to be torn between his new post and other mouth-watering and juicy offers from reputable international, local and private organizations and institutions.

The tough and outspoken NDC capo’s quandary stems from the fact that he is not prepared to leave the shores of Ghana and at the same time he believes rejecting the President’s offer could be regarded as being disrespectful to President Mahama, a source close to Dr. Aidoo hinted The Al-Hajj.

After weeks of media speculations that he would close down the Policy Monitoring and Evaluation Unit at the Presidency because its functions overlap that of Senior Policy Coordinator at the presidency, President John Mahama on Monday, November 25, 2013 finally appointed Dr. Aidoo and nine other NDC bigwigs as ambassadors designate though, no mentioned was made about their countries of accreditation.

Prior to his appointment as ambassador, the ex-aficionado of former president and NDC founder, Jerry John Rawlings, made headlines when he publicly complained of how the Mahama-led administration of which he is a senior member was starving his outfit (Policy Monitoring and Evaluation Unit at the Presidency) of the needed funds, alleging his outfit had been deliberately rendered dormant after the death of the late President John Atta Mills who created that office.

According to him, not only had staff of his office not been paid for some months, but also government officials no longer submitted themselves to scrutiny as used to be the case in the past.

The alleged ‘cash-starving’ of his outfit is said to have informed his decision to have accepted a mouthwatering ‘contract’; after many years of turning it down from Multimedia Group, owners of Joy FM and Multitv for a two-day per week guest appearance on their platform.

Though the President is yet to make his country of designation known, The Al-Hajj is reliably informed that the former deputy defence minister in the Rawlings regime is slated for The Netherlands.

Sources close to the Dr Aidoo revealed to this paper that the former Sociology lecturer at Cape Coast University believes President Mahama does not want to work with him, hence his decision to close down his office and send him overseas.

But in the face of pestering from some international and local organizations as well as reputable tertiary institutions both home and abroad on the outspoken NDC kingpin with offers that “are so tempting and mouthwatering for anyone to turn down, the source said Dr Aidoo now finds himself in a situation akin to the “devil and the deep blue sea”.

A development that is said to have pushed Dr. Aidoo, who had stayed most of his adult life abroad, to a tighter corner as to whether to accept the President’s offer to go on another foreign mission, this time as Ghana’s ambassador or accept the juicy offers from the private organizations and remain in Ghana.

Meanwhile, The Al-Hajj checks indicate all other nine ambassador-designate colleagues of Dr. Tony Aidoo have grabbed the offer by President Mahama with glee and are relishing the day of the presentation of their instruments of appointment.