Kufuor blasts Kofi Wayo

Former President John Agyekum Kufuor has dismissed claims by political maverick Charles Kofi Wayo, leader of the shadow United Renaissance Party (URP), that he (Kufuor) one said Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo was “dangerous man”.

Mr. Wayo, who defends the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) even more than his own party, claimed on an Accra based radio station that the ex-president had made the remark about the NPP flag bearer at a meeting he had with him in the run-up to the 2000 congress.

Without mentioning the date on which it happened, Mr. Wayo claimed Mr. Kufuor made the allegation in his (Wayo's) private residence when he (Kufuor) was soliciting funds ahead of the NPP congress that selected Mr. Kufuor for the 2000 general elections.

Interestingly, in 1998 when Mr. Kufuor was vying for the NPP slot at the Sunyani congress, and was nowhere near the shores of Ghana and was never a member of the NPP at the time.

Asked to provide evidence to back his claim or withdraw his allegation, Mr. Wayo insisted, “I' m prepared to face Kufuor. When they were going for their congress for the 2000 election, he (Kufuor) came to me for help. If he says no, I have witness and I’ll prove it to him on camera that he was with me. You know I was with them at that time”.

But in a sharp rebuttal, Frank Agyekum, spokesperson of the ex-president, described Mr. Wayo's claim as a “wickedly concocted allegation.

“The office of Former President John Agyekum Kufuor has taken note of a wickedly concocted allegation attributed to him by Mr. Kofi Wayo, leader of the URP party at a trumped up meeting between the two sometime ago”, he said in a release.

“Former President Kufuor categorically denies having any such meeting with Mr. Wayo at anytime anywhere”.

The release said, “The said meeting and assertions attributed to him are a figment of the imagination of Mr. Wayo and his likes aimed at poisoning the very cordial relations between the former president and Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) flag bearer.

“Former President Kufuor assures of his commitment to the success of Nana Akufo-Addo and the NPP in next December's elections and will work hard to ensure this”.

“The former president urges all to ignore such falsehoods aimed at sowing seeds of confusion in the NPP and distracting the party from its forward march to 'victory', the release concluded.