2012 elections; make or break for Nana Addo?

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Parent Category: Our Country

Category: Politics

Created on Tuesday, 28 June 2011 00:00

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 2012 elections; make or break for Nana Addo?

The personality and influence of former President, John Agyekum Kufuor, towers and looms largely on the contemporary history of the New Patriotic Party (NPP).

A Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs in the Busia administration between 1969 and 1972 and also a former Member of Parliament for Atwima Nwabiagya, ex-President Kufuor’s role in the NPP since its formation in 1992 has not been in doubt.

He is also one person who has contested almost all the presidential primaries of the NPP, especially between 1992 and 2004 and for which he is well exposed to the intrigues and organisation of party politics.

In addition, his eight years management of the nation’s economy has given him a deeper insight into the dynamics regulating the various social and economic sectors of the society; an opportunity, which perhaps no personality in the NPP had been exposed to and for which the party should be grateful for having such a personality in their midst.

Moreover, his interaction with dignitaries from all over the world places him in a unique position in the NPP for which he cannot just be wished away and toyed with.

President Kufuor has been a member of a number of parliamentary and presidential delegations under the Third Republic of the late Dr Hilla Liman.

Many questions agitate the minds of the public, especially the relations between former President Kufuor and NPP presidential candidate, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo.

Why did ex-President Kufuor choose to campaign for Nana Addo on a few occasions before the conduct of the 2008 presidential election?

What again prevented President Kufuor from accompanying Nana Addo to campaign in all the 10 regions of the country?

Or is former President Kufuor still steeped in his belief that because the party rejected his proposal for a generational change, he will not support any candidate of his generation?

The time and energy expended by former President Rawlings for the then candidate Mills in the last Presidential election as compared to that of ex-President Kufuor was quite considerable.

Was ex-President Kufour on bad terms with Nana Addo before the commencement of his national campaign?

Again, did former President Kufuor’s alleged support for Alan Cash in the latter’s bid to become the flag bearer of the party mar the relationship with Nana Addo?

Was it deliberate that Nana Addo left out President Kufuor as he campaigned to step in his shoes in the last election?

Furthermore, did ex-President Kufuor decide to distance himself from Nana Addo’s campaign to see him flop in the presidential election?

What was the import of the statement ex-President Kufuor made when the party was preparing to elects presidential candidate in 2010?

Is ex-President Kufuor comfortable with Nana Addo leading the party again to battle the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the 2012 parliamentary and Presidential election?

Has ex-President Kufuor expressed publicly his intention to campaign vigorously for Nana Addo in the 2012 poll?

The 2008 presidential election belongs to history, but recent activities within the NPP seems to suggest that former President Kufuor has been sidelined in the campaign activities of Nana Addo.

Should the development be seen as an attempt by Nana Addo to leave the shadows of former President Kufuor and carve an image that will endear him to the Ghanaian electorate?

Can he also campaign throughout the country without mentioning the achievements of former President Kufuor?

Recently, Nana Addo issued a congratulatory message to ex-President Kufuor on his award by the World Food Programme. Yes, ex-President
Kufuor exited the political scene in 2008, but his achievements continue to roll out, a situation which Nana Addo cannot ignore.

Messages of such nature have also come from the ruling Government of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), the National Peace Council and other recognised bodies in the country. All these developments go a long way to enhance the image of ex-President Kuffuor.

The question that remains now is whether Nana Addo can go around the country campaigning without the involvement of former President Kufuor in his bid to win the next presidential election.


Source: Daily Graphic/Ghana