A compassionate man full of integrity - Akufo Addo

There is something profound about Akufo Addo, a man who has strive to exhibit maturity in all aspects of his political life over the years. He has shown as a real man with compassion and absolute integrity.

Many aspects of Akufo Addo in this article will sound familiar to those who really know him. To them who see and assess him from a distance or through the mass media and other sources of information, this may be very refreshing and assuring. The passage of time have proven that like a diamond that becomes better with time and polishing, the real nature of a man would surely come out for all to know and make informed decisions.

Throughout his life, Akufo Addo has shown the way of integrating every aspect of a matured political figure and in his career has shown extreme responsibility and self-awareness. A very community minded person he has committed himself to the values of compassion and integrity and we must support as he step out to contest the flag bearer ship of the NPP and also its candidate in the 2016 presidential elections.

Akufo Addo has shown values of the accountability in his entire public life. He does what he says he will do without any equivocation. As a legal luminary and businessman, the man has remained very honest to every client low or high that has come to do business with him. Many prominent lawyers in the country who worked under his tutelage at the Akufo Addo & Prempeh Chambers continue to shower praises and acknowledgement of the profound impact on his ethics as a lawyer and a businessman.

In all his life, Akufo Addo has shown how authentic political leaders must behave. There is no former minister of state in Ghana since independence that has had many forensic auditing conducted on his office as Akufo Addo. At the last count, his office has been forensically audited as many as forty (40), yes forty times and yet no adverse findings have been found against him.

As the Attorney General and Minister of Justice and the Minister of Foreign Affairs at various times under the indefatigable President J.A. Kuffour’s administration not one issue has been found to incriminate such a man of high integrity and compassion. Akufo Addo is an authentic Ghanaian politician.

We may recall that, Akufo Addo has been a torn in the flesh of military regimes since the 1970s. He has been at the fore front on the fight against the abuse of human rights of the people of this country during some of our worst military coups periods. He has put his life and businesses at risk defending defenseless Ghanaians who may have suffered brutalities at the hands of the military adventurist and in most cases offered his legal services on human rights issues pro bono. These actions by selfless Akufo Addo exposed him and his family to various scrutiny and personal security risks. His business interests saw an extraordinary probing by state officials to ascertain his involvement in any infringement of our laws.

However as a dependable and law abiding Ghanaian whose civic responsibilities are so paramount to him, he had not been found to have reneged on any of his tax obligations nor been involved in any underhand dealings. He has maintained and ensured the strictest adherence to every obligation. A compassionate man full of integrity, Akufo Addo has not had any corruption issue found against him. This is an extremely heartwarming personality and it is gratifying to have such an exemplary Ghanaian humbly seeking our mandate to be our president.

Akufo Addo’s compassion is also seen where he empathizes with the Ghanaian and connecting to the suffering of others. As a Member of Parliament between 2001 and 2008 and Cabinet Minister of state between 2001 and 2007, this man of compassion and integrity did not take advantage to use any government residential facilities. He did not utilize and /or benefitted from any of the flexible loans offered MPs. Akufo Addo did not also use any official government vehicle. He lived in his own humble accommodation and used, maintained and fuel his own his own vehicle even for official duties.

Akufo Addo compassion and integrity seem to know no bounds, as a Minister of State and Member of Parliament he refused to take per diem as he deemed it a drain on the tax payer. Akufo Addo is not faulting any minister of state or Member of Parliament who opts to make use of such facilities and as modest as he is, not many people know this about him.

Akufo Addo is a generous man; he recognizes that giving his resources from his widow’s mite would bring him abundance of grace and above all help alleviate the plight of the needy in society. He is on a mission of service to Ghanaians and wants to work us together to make a positive difference in our lives. Without making any political or public mileage out of it, Akufo Addo has been donating all his salaries as a minister and MP to a various children’s homes in Ghana. I am certain Akufo Addo would not be amused as I make this information out to the public due to his magnanimity. But with the greatest of respect and humility, some things cannot be kept from the public forever.

Whilst his political adversaries have been doing everything humanly and sometimes non humanly possible to denigrate Akufo Addo even without success, there is the need to let the people of Ghana know the real nature of Akufo Addo as a compassionate man with excellent integrity.

Akufo Addo is humbly stepping forward once more to seek the mandate of the delegates of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to be given the flag bearer ship position to lead the party in the 2016 election. He has proven to all Ghanaians and not just the NPP supporters that he is a man who is ready to offer compassionate leadership, seeking understanding rather than domination.

In the hands of the Almighty, with respect, decorum and circumspection, the man of peace and vision would be seeking your mandate to be Ghana’s president after the 2016 election. He would come to the presidency with compassion and integrity to ensure that the socio – economic development of our nation are given the required impetus for acceleration and excellent management.

Let give Akufo Addo a chance.

By:

Kwaku Amankwah–Sarfo

Tel: 0244 255 525 / 0544 331 324

Email: Fredy.amankwah@gmail.com