The former Counsel to President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, Kow Abaka Essuman, has said that Ghanaians will eventually appreciate the former president’s leadership and the decisions he made while in office.

In an interview on Joy News on November 11, 2026, he said Akufo-Addo made difficult decisions during his time in office because he believed they were in the country’s best interest, even when those decisions attracted public criticism.

Akufo-Addo's ex-lawyer cries over unpaid benefits

Speaking about his experience working with the former president, Essuman said he came to understand that Akufo-Addo was concerned about the welfare of ordinary Ghanaians.

“It will take a bit of time for people to appreciate that the man that we had in the office was the best person who thought about the country. In fact, today some of the things that are happening in this country, you know, are testimony to it.

“And having gotten to know him, you realize that he's someone who thinks about the ordinary person,” he said.

Essuman cited Akufo-Addo’s handling of the COVID-19 pandemic as an example of his concern for ordinary people.

He said although there were calls for a lockdown and the closure of Ghana’s borders to slow the spread of the virus, the former president wanted evidence that the measures would achieve their intended purpose.

According to him, Akufo-Addo also considered how restrictions would affect people who depended on daily activities for food and other basic needs.

“During COVID, if you remember, there was a lot of outcry: we need to shut down the borders, we need to, you know, lock down and so on and so forth. A lot of people, you know, kept advising, kept saying, you know, even the scientists and so on and so forth. He wanted to see the data, first of all, that it was important, or it would slow down the spread of the virus.

“Someone sitting somewhere in a rural area, the only source of entertainment is to go and sit under, you know, at a pito bar or at a chop bar or something like that. Locking them down prevents them from having access to food,” he stated.

Essuman further explained that some people did not have refrigerators at home and depended on communal facilities, making a lockdown particularly difficult for them.

He said these were among the issues Akufo-Addo had to consider before taking decisions during the pandemic.

The former presidential counsel also linked Akufo-Addo’s decisions during his second term to what he described as improvements in the economy.

“So it was a very tough decision, but he had to take it because, in those circumstances, it required leadership, and that was kind of like the situation if we found ourselves in the second term, and he demonstrated that leadership, took the tough decisions, and today the tough decisions have gotten us where we are in terms of, for instance, the economy,” he claimed.

Kow Essuman urges Ablekuma West NPP members to attend Electoral Affairs Committee hearing

He said the former president had to take difficult decisions that required sacrifices from Ghanaians, but believed those measures were necessary for the country’s recovery.

“It was tough decisions; people sacrificed, and, you know, he said it himself before that it was a painful period of his administration because the decision that you're taking, you know, would have an effect on the people, but it's like medicine. If you don't swallow it, you know, you can't get better,” he said.

Watch his interview below:



MAG/BAI

Who Is Responsible for Stray-Bullet Injuries and Deaths?