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Former President John Agyekum Kufuor has firmly dismissed long-standing claims that he supported Alan Kyerematen over Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo during the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) heated 2008 presidential primaries.
Speaking in a recent interview on The Delay Show, Mr Kufuor described the rumour as “misleading, unfair, and completely unfounded,” insisting that he never worked against Akufo-Addo or influenced internal party dynamics in Alan’s favour.
“I never supported him against anybody,” he stated emphatically. “I didn’t give him anything to aid him in going and defeating anybody.”
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Mr Kufuor said the allegation, which has persisted for more than a decade, has no factual basis. He stressed that although he respected Alan Kyerematen, he never interfered in the NPP’s internal contests and always kept to the principle of neutrality expected of a sitting president.
To underscore this point, he revealed that early in his administration, he even attempted to appoint Alan as a minister, but Alan declined the offer.
“When I contacted him to make him a minister, he turned down the offer,” he disclosed.
Mr Kufuor’s clarification comes at a time when internal party conversations have intensified following the NPP’s defeat in the 2024 general elections. As factions re-examine past grievances and leadership choices, the former president’s remarks add new clarity to a controversy that has long shaped party discussions.
During the interview, Mr Kufuor also issued one of his most direct criticisms yet of the Akufo-Addo administration, saying several policy missteps contributed significantly to the party’s electoral defeat.
He highlighted three major issues:
- The Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP), which affected millions of bondholders
- The Power Distribution Services (PDS) controversy, which he described as troubling
- The National Cathedral project, which he said he never understood and was not consulted on
According to him, these decisions eroded public confidence in the government and marked a departure from the strong foundation the NPP campaigned on in 2016, much of which was anchored on achievements from his own administration.
Mr Kufuor expressed disappointment that despite the optimism and momentum at the beginning of Akufo-Addo’s tenure, governance shifted in a direction that created widespread concern, especially after the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We won the 2016 elections on a landslide… But by 2020 the atmosphere had changed, and 2024 confirmed that Ghanaians felt differently,” he said.
He cautioned that the electorate should never be taken for granted, a lesson he believes the NPP must take seriously as it rebuilds ahead of future elections.
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