Kufuor back home from two-nation tour

Former President John Agyekum Kufuor returned home Sunday night from a two-nation working tour of Mali and Uganda.

Former President Kufuor was in Bamako- Mali at the head of a 250-member Observer Mission of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) for the elections in July, a statement signed by Mr Frank Agyekum, the former president’s spokesperson said.

The elections, which came off six months after normalcy was established following the overthrow of the government of President Amadou Toumani Toure, has been described as free and fair by international observers including the ECOWAS mission.

A second round is expected within the next two weeks between the two front runners as none of the 27 candidates was able to garner the 50 per cent plus one votes needed for an outright win.

In Kampala- Uganda, Former President Kufuor was guest speaker at the concluding ceremony of the year-long 90th anniversary celebrations of the Makerere University.

Speaking on: “Oil Resource Management and its Utilization for Economic Transformation – The Case Study of Ghana”, Former President Kufuor called for good leadership that would ensure the proper use of their country’s resources for the benefit of their people.

He said; “In the search for such socio-economic transformation, many an opinion suffers from the delusion that having an abundance of natural resources like hydrocarbons and minerals is the key.”

“If this were so, Africa might rank at the top, or with the topmost developed countries on the globe. But this is not so,” former President Kufuor said.

“There are many nations without resource wealth but who have attained dramatic heights of transformation. Countries like Singapore, South Korea and some of the so-called “Little Tigers” of Southeast Asia are typical examples.”

“It was not so much by the abundance of their natural resources as by the quality of leadership and their commitment to the progress and welfare of their peoples,” former President Kufuor said.