Mr Elvis Afriyie-Ankrah, Coordinator of the John Mahama 2012 Campaign, has appealed supporters of National Democratic Congress (NDC) to be patient in their expectations of President John Mahama, explaining that the President is keen on fulfilling his promises to all Ghanaians, including party supporters.
Against a backdrop of various dissenting reactions with which the President's first appointment list has been received, especially by party supporters, Mr. Afriyie Ankrah assured Ghanaians that the President was keen on fulfilling his promises, adding that it was too early to get worried.
Speaking to journalists in Accra over the weekend, Mr. Afriyie-Ankrah, who was the immediate past Deputy Minister for Local Government and Rural Development, stressed that the President's appointment so far was a true reflection of his commitment to work with the best that the country had to offer in his quest to deliver the Better Ghana programme to Ghanaians.
He assured members and party supporters that the President had the requisite experience and exposure to choose the best team that his government needed in order to continue to work for Ghanaians and to deliver on his promises.
On his outlook on the appointments made so far by the President, Mr. Afriyie Ankrah asked the supporters to continue to remain calm and believe in the wisdom of the President, who is working in close consultation with the leadership of the party.
He highlighted that there were a lot of expectations from various interest groups within and without, and the balancing act could be daunting in satisfying all these interest groups. This, he added, was where he expected the party to show patience, understanding and continuous loyalty and faith in the judgment of the President.
The President, Mr Afriyie Ankrah said had just begun Ministerial appointments and so far, only about one fifth of the appointments had been made and that more would follow soon.
According to the former Campaign Co-ordinator, there should not be a problem over the changes being made since that was a very normal practice of good governance.
Also, all ministries are important, he added. In addition, he said, the supporters should not be agitated over some of the outgoing ministers not having been appointed yet, saying the appointment process was still work in progress.
He explained that the tall list of appointments awaiting to be made include deputy Ministers, Metropolitan, Municipal and District Chiefs Executives DCEs and heads of government institutions and he believed the President would use good discretion in the best interest of Ghanaians.
He said it was important for the members of the party to understand that the government has a four year mandate, and that appointments were solely the President's prerogative to ensure that qualified, competent and loyal people made up the team to implement the Better Ghana agenda.
He called for support and cooperation for the President, saying he needed to do a lot of consultation concerning his appointments to satisfy numerous interests but most importantly to ensure regional balance with due consideration to competence.
Mr. Afriyie-Ankrah further expressed confidence in the judgment of the President, and commended him for his dispatch approach so far, and asked the rank and file of the party to continue to give him the support he needed to fulfill his mandate to Ghanaians.