Former President John Agyekum Kufuor has made known the reason behind the appointment of Dr Papa Kwesi Nduom and some non-New Patriotic Party members into his government.
Nduom served as Minister of Energy and Public Sector Reforms under the Kufuor government despite being a member of the Conventions People Party then.
Almost 13 years after leaving office, John Agyekum Kufuor has in a Neat FM interview disclosed the reason behind the appointment of Nduom.
Kufuor says he entered into governance with a point to prove and he saw Nduom as a man competent and resourceful enough to help him achieve his targets.
According to him, before the coming of his government, the Dankwa-Busia-Dombo tradition had not been given ample time to show what they could offer to Ghanaians. He, therefore, planned to use his presidency to create a distinction between the two political traditions.
“We came into power with the mindset to make Ghanaians realize the difference between us (the Dankwa-Busia tradition) and the persons who belonged to the Nkrumah ideology. The reason we brought people who didn’t belong to us like Dr Nduom was to show Ghanaians the essence of governance and the difference we wanted to make. I wanted Ghanaians to know that there are levels to governance and we didn’t come with the mindset of vindication,” he said.
Kufuor also said that the past coups suffered by some civilian presidents played a role in his decision to appoint his younger brother, Addo Kufuor, as Defence Minister.
“What people forgot is that from independence till the time I became president, any civilian president was ousted via a coup. Nkrumah, Busia and Liman were all victims of coups.
“I was the fourth civilian president and my prayer was that my government wasn’t going to be toppled by [a] coup. I was looking for a very competent person and had resolved so that I entrust the Ministry of Defence to him and my brother worked excellently at the Ministry of Defence. So how can someone sit on the radio and malign me and seek to destroy my family?” he said.
“I don’t want people to think that I had issues with my brother. I wanted someone whom I could trust to be competent and not plan to overthrow my government. When God gave me the chance to be president I vowed not to give the defence ministerial role to anyone.
“I wanted someone who wouldn’t sleep on the job so that in the event that anyone plans coups, he will alert us early so that we deal with it. That’s why I appointed my brother because I know him more than anyone. We have the same parents and I’m just a year and a half older than him. We grew up together and I know his competence and how he thinks,” he thinks.
