Kufuor backs NDC's Chambas ...For top ECOWAS job

The President has thrown his massive weight behind the ranking NDC Member of Parliament for Bimbilla, Honorable Mohammed Ibn Chambas, in the battle for the top job of Executive Secretary for the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), reports The Ghanaian Chronicle.

The position has become due following the imminent retirement of the incumbent, a Guinean, and the break-out of lobbying within the sub-region for the position of the increasingly important position in geopolitical reckoning among the world's powers who are anxious to allow Africans to sort out their own problems without recourse to them.

"Among the basket of names that came up for consideration for nomination, President Kufuor personally picked 'Chambo' the dapper diplomat from Bimbilla whose genteel demeanour masks his resilience and inner strength," states the paper.

Ibn Chambas was one of the NDC members who surprised observers with his patience and tolerance when he was regularly humiliated by ex-President Jerry Rawlings and his mate, Dr Obed Asamoah, and passed by lesser endowed people for top appointments within the NDC Government.

For two terms, he served as Deputy Minister, first at Foreign Affairs, and then Education where Ekwow Spio-Garbrah, his junior in education and in office, was passed over him to become the Minister of Education.

A popular radio poll (of JOY FM) that rated him as the most popular public office holder dwindled his fortunes within the NDC leadership.