Presidential aide Dr Samuel Ayeh has responded to the decision by the Coalition of Unemployed Graduates with Disabilities to withhold its petition after members declined to hand it over to him.
The coalition had insisted that the document should be received by a more senior government official, despite Dr Ayeh’s indication that he was acting on behalf of President John Dramani Mahama.
Addressing the group, Dr Ayeh said he respected its decision, although he disagreed with the basis for refusing to present the petition.
“If you think that the President has sent me to receive a petition on his behalf and, in your opinion, I’m a nobody, and because of that you will not give me your petition, well, that’s the position you can have and I respect that,” he said.
He explained that he was a senior government official at the Office of the President and had been assigned to receive the petition on behalf of the President.
“Just as you have rightfully intimated, you are speaking on behalf of your colleagues, who have resolved that they wish the petition was delivered to a senior most government official,” Dr Ayeh said.
“As I stand here, I’m also a senior member of the government at the Office of the President and I’m standing in for the President.”
Dr Ayeh said the group remained free to wait until an official it considered sufficiently senior was available to receive the document.
“You can wait till a point in time where you think you’ve met the right person to deliver, you have that opportunity,” he said.
He assured the group that its concerns would not be disregarded and extended the President’s best wishes to the members for their engagement.
“Let me convey the President’s best wishes to you for the opportunity and for coming,” he said.
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