In the early weeks of the Mills presidency, I got embroiled in a needless argument with one of the president’s key henchmen, Koku Anyidoho. He didn’t take kindly to my suggestion that the Castle didn’t need a director of communications and a presidential spokesman.
He claimed that I had “cobwebs” in my head.
“When Ato Kwamena Dadzie decides to move the ignorance-filled discourse to absurd levels, it is only proper that I do my utmost best to clear some of the cobwebs in [his] head,” Mr. Anyidoho wrote in a widely publicised statement.
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“Ato Kwamena Dadzie may have an educated opinion on a number of issues but his postulation on the roles of the Head of Communications and Spokesperson, pans him out as not having a hold on the distinct and separate functions of myself and [presidential spokesman] Mahama Ayariga.”
I responded by insisting that no matter how Mr. Anyidoho looked at issues, his job could very easily be merged with that of Mr. Ayariga.
Then we both ceased fire.
But then, President Mills sent his spokesman to the Trade Ministry as deputy minister. Going by the communications structure, Mr. Anyidoho had so stridently defended, I have been expecting the president to appoint a replacement for Mr. Ayariga.
But then, just a few days ago, it struck me that, perhaps, the president has “seen the light” and has come to the realisation that he doesn’t need a director of communications and a presidential spokesman – in addition to an information minister and two deputies.
It’s been almost six months since Mr. Ayariga left the presidency. Yet, there doesn’t seem to be any move to fill the vacuum he might have left. That’s good because since Ayariga left, Mr. Anyidoho has been doing the job of presidential spokesman in addition to his own – director of communications. So far everything seems to be going smoothly.
I am feeling quite vindicated but I am not gloating. It’s a minor victory for common sense and I think we must all celebrate it in style. It all goes to show that the cobwebs in my head haven’t caused much damage.
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Check out my earlier response to Koku Anyidoho here:
