The Sun's sources within the corridors of power, at the Castle, can reveal that Dan Kweku Botwe was dropped as the Information Minister as punishment for his open support for Peter Mac Manu during the NPP national delegates conference.

Botwe in a run-up to the NPP national delegate?s conference openly declared this support for Peter Mac Manu against the President?s favoured candidate, Stephen Ayensu Ntim.

The paper gathered that the position taken by Botwe did not go down well with the President, who did not take his open support lightly because he wielded the power of a two-time General Secretary of the NPP, so his support for Mac was deemed one of the catalyst that led to the defeat of Stephen Ntim,? the insider told the Sun.

It would be recalled that weeks after the NPP delegates conference at Legon, where the party picked new executives, the foot soldiers of Mr. Ayensu Ntim, the former first vice chairman, who are mostly serial callers, stormed President Kufuor Airport West private residence and demanded the dismissal of Mr. Botwe. During the meeting with the President, the group expressed grave concern about the harm Mr. Botwe?s support for Mr. Manu led to the defeat of their candidate.

The group vowed to do everything possible to see the back of Mr. Botwe if the President would not take prompt action.?We will force him out of the office if no action is taken to remove him from office,? one serial caller had threatened.

The Sun gathered that the group had as well accused Mr. Botwe of keeping Ghanaians in the dark about development projects that the government had executed. However, the paper gathered that the President assured them that he would act on their supplication at the appropriate time. With that assurance, some of us are not surprised that Botwe is being bundled out as the Minister of Information. Some of the serial callers who were spotted were Uncle Ato, K. K. Y2K and a host of others. To meet their demand, most of the NPP serial callers refused to call into programmes until their expectations were met.

The Sun can report that one of the crimes of Mr. Botwe was his decision not to wade into Hotel Kufuor saga when he was expected to go into defence. Meanwhile Dan Botwe has stated that he takes his inspiration from J. B Danquah, one of the Big Six and the founding fathers of the NPP. According to the out-going Information Minister, despite the great achievements of J.B. Danquah, he did not hold any public office until his death in the dungeons of Nsawam in the 60s. He said he had played his part and if the President now felt he could no longer work with him and needed other persons, that was nothing wrong.

In a related development, countless Ghanaians have expressed grave concern about the exit of Mr. Yaw Osafo Maafo from the government. ?Osafo is one of the best materials this government and Ghana can boast of, so for such a person to be dropped at this stage, it is alarming?, Mr. Sampson Larbi, a media practitioner told the Sun.

On his part, Dr. Kofi Konadu Apraku expressed his appreciation to the President for granting him the chance to serve in his government?, adding that the floor was now open for him to intensify his campaign for the NPP presidential slot in 2008.