President John Mahama’s Senior Communications Advisor Ben Dotse Malor has urged President Akufo-Addo’s appointees to devote themselves to selfless service to improve the lives of the ordinary Ghanaian.
Sounding more like a motivational speaker on Joy News’ Pulse program, Tuesday, Ben Dotse Malor urged appointees to hang a picture of a headporter known as ‘kayayo’ in their offices to serve as a reminder of their call to duty.
‘People die for us to have an opportunity to serve…they sacrificed for us to get to where we are’.
Mr. Malor was appointed the President’s Senior Communications Advisor in January 2014 but left after a year to rejoin the UN as the head of the Public Information Unit at the UN Headquarters.
It was explained, his one-year contract had ended. But there were reports turf war at the seat of government which forced him out.
Others saw his role as overlapping with that of the Information and Media Relations Minister at the time, Mahama Ayariga.
“To be the presidential spokesperson, you need a certain depth of current happenings in Ghana; I am not so sure that that grasp is there. What necessitated the president’s decision to bring such a person? Was something wrong? What was it? And if everything was alright within the communication team, then why this change?” veteran journalist Kwesi Pratt said following his appointment.
Malor was seen as an outsider by members of the then ruling party and therefore undeserving of his position as Communications Advisor.
He was thought to be too polished and too refined for Ghana’s tempestuous politics.
Malor was part of a gang of three who left the presidency at the same time.
They include the president’s Executive Secretary, Dr. Raymond Atuguba and Chief of Staff Prosper Bani, who later returned as Interior Minister.
‘I wish I could have done more’ Malor reminisced on his time in government. It was ‘a huge privilege, a fantastic experience. It had its ups and downs’ the ordained reverend minister of the Victory Bible church international described his time.
‘I came with a basic notion of dying a little for the President to succeed’, he explained his motivation for leaving his private job to join government.
Ben Dotse Malor who served the 66th president of the UN General Assembly His Excellency Mr. Nassir Abdulaziz Al-Nasser (Qatar) as communications advisor said he came to government convinced ‘only the best will be good for the president and for Ghana’.
Mr. Malor, a ‘big believer in excellence’ said his plan was to introduce UN communication systems in how the Ghanaian government run its communications deemed to be chaotic at the time.
At the UN, activities are structured to operate with minimum reliance on the presence of personnel to get work going. Targets are set and met and there is a hurry to meet deadlines and a respect for details.
The widely travelled former BBC presenter said he had observed that the Ghanaian attitude towards planning is sub-standard compared to Kenyans.
Mr. Malor said he was always pushing to continuously improve the handling of communications to international standards like is done in the White House.
He insisted he was not frustrated within the administration.
Providing an international perspective on Ghana’s recent general elections, Ben Malor said he received several congratulatory messages from his friends across Africa who were proud that once again Ghana has gone through a political transition without violence.
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