Kufour: Ghana's Most Corrupt Ex Leader

We Ghanaians are much too kind. Too kind to the very extent that when our kindness is being taken for granted, we simply choose not to react out of kindness. We also don't like to complain that much. I guess none of us want to come across as ungrateful. So of course, when something is bothering us we simply allow it to take its own natural course. We would sometimes whisper about it, dance around it, go on our knees about it, and then pass it on to the next generation to figure it out. It's quite obvious that Ghanaians like to talk about problems rather than finding solutions to these problems. In fact, we have become so obsessed with talking about our problems that, the easiest way for anybody to get our attention is to talk about our problems with us. Any politician could get our votes as long as he/she talks about our problems. Interestingly, any person who spends most of his/her time talking about problems is often least concern with any probable solutions.

It's often said that a leader of a people is the people themselves. Because people who consider themselves right would never elect a person who they consider wrong to lead them. It just don't happen that way. Therefore, it should be strongly emphasized that a leader is always of the people. It has to be said that expectations were very high indeed, when ex president John Kufour became the president of our country. Besides the ushering in of a new era, most of the people felt that their time had finally come to shine. I guess these people were expecting a quick turn around in their dwindling fortunes. Mind you, the Rawlings P/NDC and NDC eras were not always financially amicable for some. So most understandably, the people had every reason to expect something different, if anything at all. Indeed, Kufour had his work cut out for him and he knew it. As expected, Kufour started off flying with solutions. He went on a shameless begging spree to get the economy up and running. He introduced certain socio-economic policies which benefited both young and old.


For sure Kufour was on course to become one of Ghana's great presidents. But then something changed-as if he came into remembrance of himself. He realized that the people who elected him to office didn't like solutions, but rather problems. He thought that the people needed problems to talk about. So what did he do? He charted a course to fulfill their wishes. He gave them somethings to talk about. Kufour's government which promised the nation zero tolerance for corruption, corrupted itself. Kufour handed the economy of Ghana over to Neo-corporate colonialists in exchange for dimes and nickels. The ex president bought a hotel and transferred to his son's name. He also imported foreign manufactured cars worth million of dollars for his ministers. Sadly enough, those who elected him and his NPP party to power were still using the tro-tro as their daily means of transportation. Furthermore, monies which should have gone to assist the needy amongst us went into the pockets of his ministers. And they shamelessly flaunted this wealth around like they were Arabian kings and queens.

Now, what did Kufour do about all of this? Nothing whatsoever. See, corruption is counter-productive, and so are all the elements affiliated with it. You know some might say that Kufour is innocent, which I personally doubt. We should remind ourselves that he headed one of the most corrupt governments in our nation's history. And this is the undeniable truth. We should therefore call upon the setting president to accelerate the prosecution of those who raped our country inside and out under Kufour's presidency. Moreover, Kufour should be trialed specifically for heading a corrupt government. His trial should send out a strong message to all up and coming presidents that, it's one thing to talk about the eradication of corruption, and another to be secretly part of the corruption itself. Rawlings laid a very solid exemplary foundation which Kufour could have built on, but Kufour blatantly refused this foundation. So now Kufour must prepare himself for whatever he has got coming. He must be brought to book by all means necessary.