The Presidential Candidate of the Convention People’s Party in the 2008 elections Dr Paa Kwesi Nduom has cautioned President John Mills to assert himself as President or risk becoming just a figure head. “President Mills must make it publicly clear by his deeds not words that he is in charge; knows what he is doing and continues to have confidence in his people and the way forward otherwise he may suffer an administrative coup which may render him ineffective and prematurely a figurehead,” he said at a press conference on Thursday. He was assessing President Mills’ one year tenure in office. Speaking to Joy News’ Evans Mensah on Thursday to throw more light on his press conference, Dr Nduom explained the growing dissent and criticisms that have come from within the president’s own party, is not only a distraction to the president but could lead to an “administrative coup” which will render the president virtually ineffective. Asked what he meant by an administrative coup, Dr Nduom said: “It is something where indeed you have people who have taken over, usurping his rights and responsibilities taking actions from him; doing things he cannot come outside to negate; acting for him; taking his powers and rendering him unable to come out and speak against certain actions and activities of his own people.” “We can have a president where certain things can be done and can’t reverse it. We can have a president where certain things are done in his name and he can’t do anything about it,” he said This situation he said is the last thing Ghana needs. Even though he concedes that the President is in charge, he has had cause to wonder sometimes who actually is calling the shots at the presidency. His opinion he said is harmless and of no malice and rather geared towards averting the mind of the president on a growing perception (right or wrong) that the president is not in-charge after all. But spokesperson of the President Mahama Ayariga said Nduom’s assertions about President Mills are ambiguous. He said the criticism that is coming from within the president’s own party is an attestation of the fact that the president is taking decisions which those critics are not in favour of. That alone shows that the president is in charge, he emphasised. Play the attached audio for excerpts of the interview Story by Nathan Gadugah/Myjoyonline.com/Ghana