John Kufuor
John Kofi Agyekum Kufuor (born
December 8,
1938) is the current president of
Ghana since
January 7 2001. He ran for election in
2000 and won, succeeding
Jerry Rawlings, who defeated him when he previously ran for President in the election in
1996, and having the first peaceful transition of power in Ghana since the country's independence was declared.
Both of Kufuor's parents come from families whose members included chiefs, professionals and politicians. Kufuor is married to Theresa Kufuor (née Mensah), with whom he has had five children. Kufuor and his family belong to the
Roman Catholic Church. He was educated at Osei Tutu Boarding School (1951-53), Prempeh College (1954-58), Lincoln's Inn, London (1959-1961) and
Exeter College, Oxford (1961-1964). In the Second Republic's Parliamentary Register Kufuor lists as his hobbies and interests table tennis, reading, soccer, and film shows.
Kufuor became
president with a considerable history of public service, spanning over thirty years. In 1967, he was appointed
Chief Legal Officer and
Town Clerk (City Manager) of
Kumasi, the second largest city of
Ghana. He was a member of the 1968-69 and the 1979 Constituent Assemblies that drafted the Constitutions of the Second and Third Republics respectively. In addition he was a Founding Member of the
Progress Party (PP) in 1969, the
Popular Front Party (PFP) in 1979 and is a Founding Member of the
New Patriotic Party(NPP). He has twice been elected as a
Member of Parliament, during the Second and Third Republics. He has also been in political detention on two occasions as a result of military coups that overthrew the Second and Third Republics.
He has been a
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and in this capacity, he represented Ghana on several occasions. From 1969 to December, 1971, he led Ghana's delegation to the
United Nations General Assembly in
New York, the
Organization of African Unity (OAU) Ministerial Meetings in
Addis Ababa, and the Summit Conference of the Non-Aligned Movement in
Lusaka. In 1970, he led the Ghanaian delegation to
Moscow in the former
Soviet Union,
Prague (Former Czechoslovakia), and
Belgrade (Yugoslavia) to discuss Ghana's indebtedness to these countries.
As the Spokesman on
Foreign Affairs and Deputy
Opposition Leader of the
Popular Front Party (PFP) Parliamentary Group during the Third Republic, he was invited to accompany President Limann to the OAU Summit Conference in
Freetown, Sierra Leone. He was also a member of the parliamentary delegation that visited the
United States of America(USA) in 1981 to talk to the
International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the
World Bank on Ghana's economic problems.
In January, 1982, the leadership of the All People's Party (APP), which was an alliance of all the opposition parties, advised some leading members, including the Deputy Leader of the Alliance, Alhaji Iddrisu Mahama, the General Secretary, Dr. Obed Asamoah and Mr. J. A. Kufuor to accept an invitation from the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC)to serve in what was purported to be a National Government. Mr. Kufuor was appointed the Secretary for Local Government in this new government.
As a Secretary for Local Government, he wrote the Local Government Policy Guidelines that were to be the foundation of the current decentralized District Assemblies. He resigned within seven months of acceptance of the position after having satisfied himself that the PNDC Government was not the national Government that it promised to be. He was particularly uncomfortable with the brutality, intolerance and abuse of human rights that characterized the PNDC government.
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President Kufuor talking to the press after his decisive victory over John Atta-Mills in the 2004 election |
On April 20th 1996, Mr. J. A. Kufuor was nominated by
1034 out of
2000 delegates of the
New Patriotic Party (NPP) drawn from all the 200 Constituencies of the Country to run for the President of Ghana on December 10, 1996. After campaigning for less than nine months, Mr. Kufuor polled 39.62% of the popular votes to Rawling's 57% in the 1996 election, leading some to believe the election was rigged by
Jerry Rawlings. On October 23, 1998, he was re-nominated by the New patriotic Party not only to run again for President but also to officially assume the position of Leader of the Party. Kufuor won a decisive election in
December 7 2000, defeating
John Atta-Mills,
Jerry Rawling's Vice President, in the second round of
run-off voting with 50.45%. In the first round held on
November 7 2000, Kufuor came in first place with 48.4% while
Atta-Mills came in second with 42.1%, forcing the two into a runoff election
Kufuor was recently re-elected in presidential and parliamentary elections held on
December 7 2004,earning 52.45% of the popular vote in the first round,avoiding a
run-off while at the same time Kufuor's party, the
New Patriotic Party, was able to secure more seats in the
Parliament of Ghana.
*John Agyekum Kufuor —
President of Ghana*
Hon. Aliu Mahama —
Vice President of Ghana*
Hon. Yaw Osafo-Maafo —
Minister of Education and Sports*
Hon. Joseph K. Ada —
Minister for Manpower, Youth & Development*
Prof. Mike Oquaye —
Minister for Communication*
Hajia Alima Mahama —
Ministry for Women & Children's Affairs*
Hon. Kwadwo Baah Wiredu —
Minister for Finance & Economic Planning*
Mr. Dan Botwe —
Minister for Communications*
Dr Kwame Addo-Kufuor —
Minister of Defense*
Mr Jake Okanka Obetsebi-Lamptey —
Minister for Tourism & Modernization of Capital City*
Mr. Charles Bintim —
Ministry for Local Government & Rural Rural Development*
Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo —
Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs*
Mrs. Gladys Asmah —
Minister for Fisheries*
Mr. Ernest Akobuor Debrah —
Minister of Agriculture and Food*
Major (Rtd) Courage Emmanuel Kobla Quashigah —
Minister of Health*
Ms Christine Churcher —
Minister for Environment and Science*
Hon. Kwamina Bartels —
Minister in for Private Sector Development & PSI*
Hon. Dr. Richard Winfred Anane —
Minister for Road Transport*
Prof. Christopher Ameyaw-Akumfi —
Minister for Habours & Railways*
Mr. Alan Kyeremanten —
Minister for Trade and Industry*
List of national leaders*
Official Website of the Government of Ghana*
Official website of John Kufuor
