Akufo-Addo is a ‘negative transformational leader’ – Ohene Agyekum

Stateman Daniel Ohene Agyekum has argued that it is not appropriate for Prof Frimpong Boateng to suggest Ghana has not had transformational leaders after Kwame Nkrumah.

Mr. Agyekum noted that there have been positive and negative transformational leaders over Ghana’s 66 years of existence and any conversation surrounding transformational leadership must be dissected with that in mind.

Speaking in an interview with Julius Caesar Anadem on Ultimate FM’s morning Show, Cup of Tea Morning, Ambassador Ohene Agyekum disagreed vehemently with Prof Kwabena Frimpong Boateng, explaining that Ghana has had transformational leaders in both the negative and positive sense.

“I find it difficult to accept that after Kwame Nkrumah, we haven’t had a transformational leader. We have had different people at different levels as transformational leaders in their own rights. Professor Frimpong Boateng transformed Korle Bu. So he is a transformational leader. If he is talking about the Presidency and other political leaders, he needs to define the parameters within which one can claim to be a transformer or a transformational leader.

There should be a clear distinction in the area of the economy or other aspects of the development of this country” he premised his argument

“Yes, Kwame Nkrumah through his well-acknowledged, policies, vision and deliverables make him a transformational leader. He built the Akosombo Dam. The construction of roads and schools. He was transformational, and so have others who have played their roles too.

“Different leaders have done great things too for his country. Atta Mills, Mahama and Jerry John Rawlings have all served this country well,” he added.

Ambassador Agyekum however singled out the current President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo as a negative transformational leader which must be placed on Ghana’s record.

“Akufo-Addo is a transformational leader, maybe in a negative way. Akufo Addo has transformed this country from a healthy environment to a bad state. Today our forest and water bodies, our cocoa farms have all been destroyed and continue to be destroyed”

“Yes, he is transforming this country but in a negative way. The transformation has a negative and positive dimension. The positive ones are what Kwame Nkrumah and others have done; the negative ones are what Nana Addo is doing” he explained.

Prof Frimpong Boateng had argued that only Kwame Nkrumah could be described as a transformational leader in Ghana’s history. But Mr Ohene Agyekum has disagreed with his assertion, insisting that transformational leaders have come after Kwame Nkrumah.