The former Chief of Staff of Ghana, Julius Debrah, has narrated the circumstances that led to him becoming the Chief of Staff of former President John Dramani Mahama.

Speaking in an interview with Kwahu Ambassador, which was monitored by GhanaWeb, Julius Debrah said that he never expected in his wildest dream to become the Chief of Staff of Ghana just months after losing a parliamentary election.

According to him, after losing his bid to become the Member of Parliament (MP) for the Suhum Constituency in the 2012 Election, he surprisingly got his first appointment under President John Dramani Mahama as the Eastern Regional Minister in 2013.

After serving as Eastern Regional Minister for just one month, he was appointed Greater Accra Regional Minister, a position he held for less than a month. After serving as the Greater Accra Regional Minister, he was once again appointed the Eastern Regional Minister, which he held for less than a month.

Julius Debrah added that because of his hard work, ex-President Mahama had come to love him and he (Mahama) appointed him Local Government and Rural Minister in June 2014.

He said that the greatest shock of his life was when President Mahama appointed him as his Chief of Staff while he was on an official government assignment abroad.

“The president one day sent me on an official assignment in Kenya; I was leading a delegation there. So, I went to the president a day before leaving for the assignment to appreciate better what he needed me to do, so I will not go and waste the state's money. So, the president told me what he needed from me when I went to the programme.

“The surprising thing is that the president never told me that he wanted me to be his Chief of Staff. After I had arrived in Kenya and was resting, I received a call from Ras Mubarak, who started congratulating me. So, I asked him why he was doing that. And he told me to stop pretending.

“I asked him what he was talking about and he said I was the new Chief of Staff. I could not believe him. I was asking myself whether this could be true because I was just with the president just the day before and he did not tell me anything but the calls kept coming and people were congratulating me,” he narrated in Twi

“I cannot explain how this happened. In less than two years, I was a minister for two regions, a cabinet minister and a chief of staff,” he told the host.

Brief profile

Mr Debrah studied at Mpraeso Secondary School and then moved to Achimota Secondary School for A-Levels from 1987 to 1989.

Following this, he gained admission to the University of Ghana where he obtained a BA in Archaeology and Sociology.

Debrah spent 18 years of his working life in the Real Estate Agriculture sector.

A native of Obomeng Kwahu, Debrah is married with two children.