Fresh details are emerging over how Mr. Awal Mohammed, Public Relations Officer of the Youth Employment Agency (YEA) was booted out under dramatic circumstances for Kwasi Afriyie, formerly of Metro TV to replace him in the coveted position, MyNewsGh.com reports.
Information available to MyNewsGh.com indicated that Awal Mohammed was booted out and has been unemployed as far back as late 2017 with Emmanuel Kwasi Afriyie replacing him in 2018.
Awal Mohammed rose to national fame when as the Deputy National Communications Officer for Zongo Caucus, the official wing of National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the Zongo communities announced his defection to the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) in October 2016.
Awal Mohammed who made the announcement in a press statement dated Wednesday October 5, 2016 said as a senior member of NDC communications team in the Ashanti Region, his decision to defect from the NDC to the NPP was based on his “principles and convictions”.
He expressed disappointment the NDC did not state any policy to address concerns of the Zongo community in its recently launched manifesto.
Awal Mohammed added that he believed the NDC as a party had failed to tackle the high unemployment situation in the country resulting in untold hardship on many people, this is believed to be why he was quickly sorted with a YEA appointment when Akufo-Addo won after December 2016.
However, some members of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) expressed their displeasure over the appointment of Awal Mohammed to serve as the Public Relations Officer (PRO) of the YEA.
They said it was a betrayal of the rank and file members of the NPP who had toiled long before Awal Mohammed came to the scene and still had no appointment.
According to a press release signed by Prince Milonu, a communication team member of the NPP in the Ashanti Region, the Awal’s appointment “has in many ways betrayed the long held principle of the party for rewarding long service, loyalty and hard work among its members”.
The release indicated that the decision by the president makes “nonsense of the sacrifices and dedication of other equally competent young persons who have served the party well over the years”.
Mr Milonu said in the statement that he was “saddened by the lack of appreciation shown to us by the party and now many of us are now laughing stock in the eyes of our colleagues in the other party”.
The release pointed out that the appointment will set “a very bad precedent that will have dire consequences for the unity especially among the youth of the party going forward in the future”.
It is this and others matters MyNewsGh.com has been made privy to, that triggered Awal Mohammed’s removal as YEA PRO.
Source: MyNewsGh