Ex-President Kufuor’s Boom Is Coming!

Some say it will be an unrestrained boom on the political landscape whiles others predict it will be a sober reflection on more than 40 years of national politics and development options. The news is that former President John Agyekum Kufuor is writing his memories. It is expected that his memories will cover his pre-1969 days in the corridors of the Kumasi Metropolitan Authority (KMA).

It will also take a peep into the foreign policy orientation of the Busia administration which governed Ghana from 1969 to 1972.

President Kufuor was the Deputy Minister then and he is in a pretty good position to explain the circumstances under which his government objected to the imposition of sanctions against the apartheid regime in South Africa. The very frosty relations between the Busia Government and the National Liberation Movements in Southern and Eastern Africa may also need some explanation.

Another interesting issue would be the Aliens Compliance Order which was issued by the Busia administration and which caused a lot of pain to West African nationals living in Ghana. Many West Africans especially Nigerians lost their properties completely or were compelled to sell them cheaply to mainly Progress Party activist. Political observers will also be looking out for President Kufuor’s views on the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC) chaired by former President Jerry John Rawlings.

Mr. Kufuor served as Minister for Local Government in that administration. There are conflicting reports about how he left the military government led by his arch foe, Mr. Rawlings. Mr. Kufuor has claimed that he resigned from the Government because he disagreed with the junta on policy issues and also because he was appalled by the human rights violations at the time.

Other sources have said that Mr. Kufuor was pushed out of office because of what they call his extreme right-wing views. His memories may also cover the struggle for the return to multi party democracy led by the Movement for Freedom and Justice (MFJ) and his own entry into that struggle through the Asante Youth Association.

In 1992, Mr. Kufuor was appointed as the Representative of the Asante Youth Association on the Co-ordinating Committee of Democratic Forces (CCDF) which was chaired by Professor Albert Adu Boahen.

Other members of the CCDF included Mr. Johnny F.S. Hansen, Dr. John Bilson, Mr. Akoto Ampaw, Kwesi Pratt, Jnr, John Ndebugre and J.K. Tamakloe. Whatever former President Kufuor will reveal will be extremely interesting and would add to the knowledge on Ghana’s history.