Deputy Local Government Minister Elvis Afriyie Ankrah has challenged the Majority Leader in Parliament, Mr. Alban Sumana Bagbin to make public, names of people whose actions he claims were drawing the government backwards. Alban Babgin accused President Mills of surrounding himself with sycophants, intimidating, and repulsive officials whose activities were detracting from the goodwill and intentions of the government. The Majority Leader who is quoted as saying that the issues confronting the National Democratic Congress as a party and government demand no diplomatic dressing but a forthright (call a spade a spade) approach, tactfully failed to mention the names of the alleged detractors. He rather implored the president to incorporate views of leading members of the party in formulating and implementing programmes of government. As he putm it, there were programmes the government intended to pursue and included in the 2010 budget, however, he for instance, had no idea where some of the ideas came from and how he was expected to speak to the issues and convince the populace to buy into the programme. But the deputy Local Government Minister is least impressed with the utterances of the Majority Leader. He told Joy News' Evans Mensah in an interview on Wednesday; “I am extremely worried about the trend that is emerging in our party where leading members of the party have taken the right to coming out publicly to just lambast the president." While criticizing Hon Babgin and some leading members of the party for their incessant public attacks on the president, he challenged the Majority Leader to mention the names of the so-called intimidating, and repulsive officials in government. "It is unfair; he should mention the names then, because we are all part of the government. Who are these people? Is it Ayariga, the spokesperson, is it Koku Anyidoho, is it his secretary, is it the Chief of Staff?,” Ankrah demanded, explaining that the exposure will help the party deal with those anti-progress elements. “When he makes those general statements, it creates a difficulty for everybody.” Describing the statements as worrisome and unflattering of a Majority Leader, the deputy Local Government Minister and deputy General Secretary of the NDC called on the leadership to be loyal to the president. He found it rather surprising that the Majority Leader who is a member of cabinet, the highest decision making body of government, could not find any other platform to express his grievances but chose the media to vent his frustration. He acknowledged the majority leader's role in bringing the party back into power, but said others played equally important roles for which reason everybody must work together in order to fulfill the party's campaign promises. According to Ankrah, the comment by the Majority Leader was a bad example to the younger generation of the party. You can listen to excerpts of the interview with Elvis Ankrah in the attached audio. Story by Nathan Gadugah/Myjoyonline.com/Ghana