Kufuor Speaks On Wikileaks

John Agyekum Kufuor, a former President, has, for the first time, spoken publicly on the recent Wikileaks diplomatic cables that supposedly revealed details of confidential communication between Ghanaian government officials and American diplomats.

“Look, I am a lawyer by profession, and I tell you that Wikileaks is no better than hearsay and hearsay is not the best evidence for a lawyer to stand on to be used in any case,” was how the former President responded when Paul Adom-Otchere, host of Good Evening Ghana, sought his opinion on the subject during an exclusive television interview that was aired last night on Metro TV.

John Kufuor categorically denied claims by Wikileaks that his government had sought foreign assistance to help “manage” his predecessor, former President Jerry John Rawlings who, the leaks claimed, was becoming a problem to the Kufuor-led administration.

“Manage JJ Rawlings? For what? Who said it? That is what I mean by hearsay. My government was very much on top of the business of managing Ghana and I believe my government was very competent,” Mr Kufuor said on the programme recorded at his Airport West residence in Accra.

The former President was also asked about a portion of the Wikileaks cables that had alleged that the government he led had an assassination plot regarding the life of Raymond Archer, a journalist who, ostensibly, was a fierce anti-corruption crusader.

In response, Mr. Kufuor challenged the host of the programme to mention a single case of corruption that Raymond Archer had uncovered when he was President.

“Anti-corruption? What corruption did he uncover? What corruption did Mr. Archer uncover in my government? I was in government for eight years and can you cite any example where any Ghanaian citizen could complain that Kufuor’s government had sent out an assassination squad to go and do them in?” he asked.

John Kufuor expressed the hope that though the Wikileaks saga could not be given much credence, Ghanaians would learn a few lessons from it regarding how to relate with foreign diplomats.

“What one lesson I hope we would all learn from is that when you are talking with diplomats, anywhere, just be careful because diplomats everywhere are just like spies and they are there to represent the interest of their countries. In doing so, they are very likely to go and make reports and in reporting they are human beings and are prone to exaggeration, embellishments, short reporting and etc.”

Another issue on Wikileaks that came up during the interview was an allegation that a French company, Groupe Sagem, won the bid for Ghana’s national identification project because the then President’s son, Chief Kufuor, worked as a consultant for Sagem, and the Chief of Staff at the time, Kwadwo Mpiani, who oversaw the process, manipulated it in favour of Sagem though Ghana had gone for a huge loan to execute the project.

Mr. Kufuor said he could not remember that issue but he however did not believe it: “I don’t remember that but let me tell you off-hand. The National ID was launched in my time and I know for a fact that Mr. Jacque Chirac as President of France gave a grant of $30 million to Ghana to undertake the ID exercise so what is anybody talking about? The $30 million was a grant from France to Ghana and I want you to know that Ghana did not go for a loan.”

The interview also touched on other areas including the former’s president’s thoughts on the current happenings in Libya, a few contentious decisions taken under his tenure in office and his life after the presidency.

Read details in tomorrow’s issue of DAILY GUIDE.