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I am not responsible for Akufo-Addo’s defeat
- Kufuor
By Masahudu Ankiilu Kunateh, Ghanadot
Accra, Sept 2, Ghanadot - The
immediate Former President John
Agyekum Kufuor outlined the
reasons behind the defeat of his party- the New Patriotic
Party (NPP) – under the candidacy of Nana Addo Dankwa
Akufo-Addo, in the December 2008 Presidential Elections.
Mr. Kufuor has denied being responsible in any way for the
defeat of the NPP and debunked assertions that the election
result was a tacit rejection of the NPP government which he
was leader of for eight years.
The Ex-president made these statements when he took his turn
on TV3’s Kweku-One-On-One last Sunday.
He stressed that “to the best of his knowledge, intent and
ability, he did his best to ensure that Nana Akufo-Addo won
the said elections but the results of the polls proved
otherwise”.
Mr. Kufuor explained that, “democracy is not always
rational”, and in many instances, voters support a candidate
or a party for reasons based on sentiments rather than
logic.
“I would tell you that as a person, I do not feel
responsible for it at all; I did my best for my party and my
candidate but if the people decide to vote otherwise, I
cannot be responsible for that”, Kufuor added.
The ex-President stated that if Ghanaians had gone to the
December polls to cast their ballot based on issues of rule
of law, economy and development, there was no way the NPP
should have lost power.
Kufuor mentioned for instance of an area where the
electorate there had vowed to vote out the NPP, even if the
government tarred the roads with gold. Should I be blamed
for the loss of the NPP in such an area, he asked.
The ex-president, who is referred in Ghana’s politics as
“The Gentle Giant” intimated that prior to the presidential
primary of the NPP last year, he personally called some of
the 17 or so aspirants and advised them to re-think their
decision to lead the party and if possible step aside but
they all turned down his advice.
“I told some of them that ‘look, the daily reports I get do
not favor you so don’t waste your time’…but it seems they
were bitten by the bug to go into the arena to try their
muscles”, he told the host Kwaku Sekyi Addo.
The number of aspirants, he said, did not give a serious
image of the party, “but politics is serious business”.
Kufuor said he congratulated the party for limiting the
number of future flag-bearer aspirants to a maximum of five,
which in his view is not too large a figure.
"I am a thorough-bred NPP man. I have supported the party’s
ideals and principles all my life and I have no intentions
of departing from them," he added.
“Through this party, I reached the highest point in the
political life of our nation. A point anybody could wish for
throughout the world. I have had my time and I am content
with that”, the ex-President stated.
At the just-ended national delegate conference of the party
held at Ghana Trade Fair Centre in Accra, Kufuor said: “I am
not in contention with anybody for any position within the
party or outside it and I wish to play my role as an elder
statesman within the party, a position I believe I have
earned.
Ghanadot
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