Only One Regret, President Kufuor?

By Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr., Ph.D.

He is fast closing in on 76, and so one can forgive former President John Agyekum-Kufuor for reportedly claiming that he has only one regret that he feels wistful about not effectively resolving during the eight years that he led the now main opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) into the old Osu-Accra slave castle and his two-term administration of the country (See "Dagbon Crisis Shook Me to My Foundations - Kufuor" Graphic Online / Ghanaweb.com 5/26/14).

The Dagbon tragedy constituted perhaps the most difficult test of his stewardship as chief administrator of the country; but it definitely was not his one and only regret. What I remember most as significantly detracting from the moral authority of the former president, was that moment when he was widely and caustically criticized for rather cavalierly insisting that corruption as a human foible was as old as the Biblical Adam and Eve, and that there was practically little that he could do to stem this most odious practice. Indeed, he was so cavalier about it that he seemed to be heartily promoting the practice, rather than responsibly reducing it as the privileged leader of the proverbial lodestar of the African continent, at least the geographical Black Africa.

The good news, though, is that it is not too late for Mr. Kufuor to haunch down and effectively contribute towards finding a lasting solution to the Dagbon chieftaincy dispute or royal-family feud. For starters, Dagbon has a longstanding historical and blood kinship with Manhyia, the principal Asante monarchy. And so it is not as if Dagbon is a totally discrete geopolitical entity of its own, as the former president would have the rest of us believe, when he is quoted to be saying as follows, "And I pray that there will be a permanent solution so that, that traditional part of our country finds itself restored to harmony."

In fact, that is what retired politicians and statesmen have been known to do all over the world. Former U.S. president Jimmy Carter, an engineer and farmer of remarkable repute, for example, has been intensely engaged in the construction of decent homes for the poor and destitute in many parts of the United States and elsewhere in the diaspora under his non-governmental organization called Habitat for Humanity. He also has the Carter Library charged with the preservation of his memory and leadership, as well as the moral principles that the octogenarian former president envisages himself to represent.

Mr. Kufuor also has his John Agyekum-Kufuor Institute housed on the campus of the country's flagship academy, the University of Ghana, as well as on the campus of the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), in his hometown of Kumasi. Mr. Kufuor has, of course, also served as an ambassador for many noble causes around the globe, especially in the Third World. But even as charity is often said to begin at home, Mr. Kufuor could establish the Dagbon Chieftaincy And Conflict-Resolution Commission (DCCRC) and vigorously work towards finding a lasting solution for the Dagbon crisis, if he sincerely feels so strongly about the same.

He may also have laudably worked towards making Ghana a middle-income country in 2006, but there is clear evidence that such promising status may have been drastically reversed by the erstwhile Mills-Mahama government of the National Democratic Congress, and now by the Mahama/ Amissah-Arthur mal-administration of the NDC. Also, merely increasing the production of raw cocoa beans does not constitute healthy economic growth and development. Ghana needs to seriously strategize by capturing a remarkable percentage of the cocoa-product manufacturing industry. This phase of the cocoa industry could well see the doubling of the number of decently salaried workers and employees engaged in the cocoa sector of our national industrial sphere. This is where a possible partnering with the technologically advanced European Union countries could be of remarkable benefit.

And, if, indeed, politics is second nature to the former president, then one would rather see Mr. Kufuor setting up an institute exclusively devoted to the grooming of the politically minded among our youths and preparing them for meaningful national leadership in the offing. This could be done in the form of liaising with the political science departments of our major public academies in order to have students undertake internships with the former president and his staff of experienced and successful former politicians and now-retired statesmen and women. This is what progressive cross-partisan leadership is about. Some of the prospective interns could also come from the history and sociology departments of our public academies. Of course, students from our private academies could also be allowed to participate.

Merely sitting at home and receiving up to 30 visitors and admirers a day may preen his ego, but it is not as far-reaching and politically fulfilling as directly investing his considerable administrative skills and experience in the proverbial leaders of tomorrow.

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*Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr., Ph.D.
Department of English
Nassau Community College of SUNY
Garden City, New York
Board Member, The Nassau Review
May 26, 2014
E-mail: okoampaahoofe@optimum.net
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