In a last minute effort to woo former President John Agyekum Kufuor to brighten his fading chances in next year’s elections, twice failed presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has started idolizing the most successful leader of the Danquah-Busia-Dombo tradition.
Having realized how his chances in next year’s elections is becoming bleak by the day given the Mahama-led NDC government’s achievements coupled with the unending strife in the NPP, Nana Akufo-Addo, who stood aloof, watch his loyalists and allies denigrate Mr Kufuor, his family and NPP bigwigs seen as devotees of the ex-president; has now suddenly seen the need to “bow” to the “gentle giant”
But, whiles Nana Akufo-Addo and his lackeys are hoping to court the support of Mr Kufuor ahead of the 2016 polls with their hero-worshipping birthday messages on his 77th birthday, information gathered by The aL-hAJJ indicates that the former president has not been persuaded by their last minute efforts.
“How can he be swayed by persons who have consciously and consistently denigrate him (Mr Kufuor), they called him all sorts of names and now want to project him as a hero?” A source close to Mr. Kufuor queried.
Describing Akufo-Addo and his political hangers-on today singing praises to Mr Kufuor as “too late”, the source added “we don’t need them... for us the Old Man is already a hero… In any case, since when did they realize that he is a hero and the most successful leader of the Danquah-Dombo-Busia tradition? If they really mean what they are now saying, they would publicly condemn their supporters who openly hurled insults at the Old Man under no provocation whatsoever.”
Known loyalists of the 2016 flag bearer of the NPP who have openly shown their disdain for Mr Kufuor were among the thousands of Ghanaians who showered praises on him, Tuesday, December 8, 2015 on the occasion of his 77th birthday.
Among them included Nana Akufo-Addo’s nephew and NPP chief spin-doctor, Gabby Asare Otchere Darkoh, who described Mr Kufuor, whom he has chided for supporting Alan Keyerematen in the 2007 NPP flag bearer contest, as the "most successful constitutional leader" Ghana has had so far.
In a tweet to wish ex-president Kufour well on his 77th birthday, Gabby, as he is affectionately called, said Mr Kufuor’s two-term presidency dwarfs that of all his contemporaries, a sentiment a Fellow at the Institute of Democratic Governance, Dr Kwesi Jonah, shares.
Reacting to a recent article in the Forbes Magazine which said the former Ghanaian president missed out on the Mo Ibrahim 'Achievement in African Leadership' award because his government was fraught with corruption, the staunch Nana Akufo-Addo advocate said, Mr Kufuor performed "very well" in office as president.
He said Mr Kufuor "did his very best and I think he really deserved it, if he didn’t get, he himself has taken it easy. He governed very well. He missed the prize. That is no reason for fears that things could go wrong in Ghana."
Another foul mouth ally of Akufo-Addo, Hopeson Yaovi Adorye, who led a group to barricade the home of the former president and attempted to prevent him from attending the investiture of President Mahama after the last presidential elections in January 2013, also celebrated the man he once deemed evil and cause of Nana Akufo-Addo’s failed attempts at the presidency.
He wrote on his facebook wall “Our Daddy is 77 today and in Paris the city of Love. Happy birth day to you former President of the Republic of Ghana. More strength and wisdom”
Other known NPP leaders who have openly abused Mr Kufuor for working against Nana Akufo-Addo all took turns to shower praises on him. It is reported that Nana Akufo-Addo himself, who has remained silent in the midst of scathing attacks on Mr Kufuor by his loyalists, also called on him to wish him well.
It would be recalled that, when Nana Akufo-Addo lost the 2008 elections, the first person to blame it on Mr Kufuor was Nana Akufo-Addo’s special aide, Mustapha Hamid, who, in a lengthy and demeaning article in 2008 titled IS IT A QUESTION OF JUDGMENT?, accused Mr. Kufuor of deliberately taking certain decisions when he was president that denied Nana Addo the chance of becoming president.
Subsequent to that, and after Nana Akufo-Addo 2012 defeat, then acerbic-mouth General Secretary of NPP, Kwadwo Owusu Afriyie a.k.a. Sir John, never ceased to openly abuse Mr Kufuor, describing him in some instances as a monster, all in the name of Akufo Addo.
Also, only recently an obvious Nana Akufo-Addo loyalist, a certain Obaa Yaa, verbally abused the former president, accusing him for all the predicaments in the party. She said former President Kufuor came into politics with nothing but through their (party) support, he won political power and left power with unprecedented wealth only to turn his back to his party and its candidate, Akufo Addo.
To demonstrate their disdain and dislike for Mr Kufuor, elected party executives and persons believed to be his loyalists are being subjected to dehumanizing treatments, amidst suspensions and threats of suspension.
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