Kufuor Dynasty Stokes Flames

... Addo Kufuor’s family boils over his embarrassing bid
... FM station in Central Region roasts him THE DEFENCE Minister, Dr. Kwame Addo Kufuor, who is aspiring to succeed his elder brother, President John Agyekum Kufuor, has formally launched his bid but without his family’s support.

Most of the Minister’s relatives, including the President, have reportedly been grumbling over Dr. Addo Kufuor’s strenuous efforts to vie for the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) flagbearership position because of the danger it would pose for the ruling party in the national elections, The Chronicle has gathered.

But the Medical Doctor, who had escaped several ministerial reshuffles and remained glued to the country’s Defence Ministry, was not perturbed by the bundled nerves of his family members, particularly that of his brother whom he is straining to succeed at all cost.

President Kufuor, who shares the sentiments of most Ghanaians that the country’s presidency is not the preserve of a particular tribe or ethnic group (let alone blood relations) for an immediate succession, is doing everything possible within acceptable norms of society to get his brother to rescind his decision.

After several run-ins with the younger Kufuor, close confidants of the President have hinted this paper that the President had finally asked some party gurus to try and get Dr. Addo Kufuor to discard the idea of succeeding him, at least for now, in order to pave way for other presidential hopefuls in the party.

According to them, the Defence Minister is in the ‘black books’ of the nation’s Chief Executive Officer because the President wants to kill misconceptions about his New Patriotic Party and as well maintain his line of principle.

The sources indicated that those contracted by the President to admonish Addo Kufuor against his decision had had several chitchats with him on the issue, but he had adamantly gone ahead to launch his campaign in the Eastern Regional capital, Koforidua, as reported in the media last week.

So far, about 12 names including the Defence Minister’s have come up as those interested in the flagbearership position of the NPP.

Oyedeyie Osafo Maafo, Nana Akufo-Addo, Prof. Frimpong Boateng, Dr. K. K. Apraku, Messrs Hackman Owusu Agyemang, Boakye Agyarko, and Arthur Kennedy have all made their intentions known.

Other members of the party also bracing themselves for the race to become the NPP’s torchbearer for the 2008 general elections are Vice President Alhaji Aliu Mahama, Minister of Communication, Prof. Mike Quaye and Minister of Trade, Industry and Presidential Initiative (PSI), Mr. Alan Kyerematen.

Meanwhile, panelists on a discussion programme on the University of Cape Coast’s Radio Valco ‘roasted’ the Defence Minister and ruled him completely out of the race, saying he would be a deficit to the NPP rather an asset, considering the perception that the presidency is not a dynasty for Apedwafie.

Mr. Malik Ramzi, host of Valco FM’s newspaper review programme, Morning Flavour, submitted that a survey he conducted in the Central Region indicated that people in the region are not in support of the idea of the President’s brother succeeding him immediately, but could support him for a 2012 bid.

He said they do not want to see anything like a dynasty in this country.

Mr. Osafo Acquah, a lecturer at the University of Cape Coast, confirmed that it would be very risky for the NPP to field Dr. Addo-Kufuor as NPP’s presidential candidate because of the apparent dynasty his candidature would create, and advised the delegates of the party to vote for someone else.

Nana Osebe, an NDC sympathizer, also said Addo Kufuor’s fielding had even started a conflict in the family because the Defence Minister had turned a deaf ear on all advice from the family to step down.

However, the constituency organizer of the NPP in Cape Coast, Mr. Edwin Buckman, who was also a panelist on the same radio programme, opined that for the party to win the next elections, the choice of a flagbearer should be based on competence and quality, but not tribal and family sentiments.

He asked members of the party to judge Addo Kufuor on his competencies, abilities and track record, and nothing else, which criteria, he said, applied to all other candidates.