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General News of Tuesday, 5 November 2002

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"I never promised to return Nkrumah's body" -JAK

President John Agyekum Kufuor says he never promised to return the body of Ghana’s first President, Dr Kwame Nkrumah, to his hometown, Nkroful. The Chiefs of the area alleged, while the President was in Far East that he promised to return Nkrumah’s body to Nkroful if they voted massively for him during the 2000 elections.

President Kufuor who was responding to questions by journalists on his arrival from a two-week state visit to the Far East said "I never made any campaign promise to the elders and family of the late President at Nkroful to return the body if elected President”.

“But I remember mentioning to them the bad state of the road from Essiama to Nkroful, which I promised to see to its rehabilitation. That promise still holds. I will ensure that the road is rehabilitated and would not make any political gains out of it," he added.

According to him, "the late President belongs to the entire nation in particular and Africa as a whole and his remains must be left at its current place in Accra, which is an honour to Ghana, his immediate family and the entire citizenry of Nkroful."