General News of Friday, 18 July 2014

Source: The New Statesman

Atuguba quits; Chief of Staff to follow

The nephew of Justice William Atuguba, President of the nine-member panel that sat on the 2012 Presidential Election Petition trial, is allegedly not happy about the turf war between him and Prosper Bani, President Mahama’s Chief of Staff.

At the same time the Chief of Staff is also not happy at the turn of events at the presidency and could also be on his way out of the presidency, following Dr Atuguba.

The two are said to be accusing each other of attempts to undermine their ‘influence and authority’ at the presidency.

“The issues also have to do with some; 'juju' scare at their offices. There are both suspicions and accusations of some people at the presidency trying to undo one another through the use of ‘juju’… a reliable source said.

Another source of worry to the two, according to our source, is that “Dr Atuguba says whenever he writes something, somebody changes it and he suspects Prosper.

However, Prosper also makes the same complaints. So there is so much confusion at the presidency and they both think the best for them is to at least leave the presidency and have their peace of mind.

Our source, however, added that one of them could likely consider taking an ambassadorial position which is being offered by the president as ‘compensation’.

According to our source, the recent shake up in the Mahama government, especially the nomination of Dr Spio Garbrah as Minister for Trade and Industry, was the result of vehement pressure from key figures in the NDC, including General Secretary Johnson Asiedu Nketia.