Where did Kufuor get his Millions of dollars?

An article by Nana Kofi Amankwah of NY, still unknown whether it is Nhyiaeso or New York, which was published on the 6th of May 2010 and titled “NPP: Akufo Addo Man Insult Ashanti’s Again” leaves much to be desired by true sympathizers of the party as a whole.

In the article was a statement alleging Nana AKufo-Addo had wasted funds provided by President John Agyekum Kufuor and that was one of the reasons why the NPP lost the election: “He was handed millions of dollars for the campaign including other logistical support and still the party lost the election which a sycophant should have even won. So why should the NPP elect him again?”

While we may still be pondering about the real identity of Nana Kofi Amakwah, whether he is an NPP supporter, an Alan Kyerematen fanatic or indeed an NDC sympathizer, his utterances and posture is very similar to that of supporters of Alan Kyerematen here in Tamale. On most radio talk shows, serial callers sympathetic to the cause of Alan Kyerematen persistently bundle this allegation about without any evidence or justification.

In their campaigns in the Greater Accra Region and recently in the Ashanti Region, one of the campaign messages making the rounds has it that Akufo-Addo “chopped” millions of dollars provided by Kufuor which should have been used for the electioneering campaign.

One would therefore want to ask that assuming the above quotation is true as this has been making the rounds in campaigns by the Alan camp, Ghanaians would be interested to know how and where Kufuor got his millions of dollars for Nana Akufo-Addo’s 2008 campaign. At a point, it was said he gave 40 million dollars, another time, it became 50 million dollars and then it shifted to 70 million dollars, so which is which? Kufuors alleged financial support seems to be inexact and unknown to these liars. Did he, as it were, dip his hands into state coffers to get the millions? Were they kickbacks?

We all knew candidate Kufuor in 1996 and 2000. He couldn’t pay for vehicles and motorbikes for his own campaign. We are all privy to his monthly salary when he became President of Ghana for 8 years. Kufuor was no Michael Bloomberg, Ross Perot, Bill Gates, Carlos Slim, Warren Buffet or Silvio Berlusconi before he became President of the republic of Ghana. At a point in time when Kufour visited President Rawlings at the Castle, Osu, his vehicle broke down and could not start. It took the intervention of some castle staff to literally push his vehicle to start. Tony Aidoo and J.J Rawlings were all present.

In 8 years of being President, Kufuor could not have made the millions of dollars and even have surplus to give some to Akufo-Addo for his campaign. All his income plus allowances including those from his numerous travels can not add up to a million dollars.

And if Nana Amankwah, whoever he is, is of the opinion that bundling allegations that Akufo-Addo chopped millions given to him by Kufuor in the 2008 elections is meant to hurt Nana, then he must think again. He is hurting the NPP and most of all President Kufuor and his protégé Alan Kyerematen, whose campaign is becoming representative of these comments. It would be wise for the Alan campaign to deny or distance itself from such comments and indeed characters like Nana Amankwah since they can never lead a party which they are sweepingly helping to destroy. They will surely fail!

Now, let’s come to the “winnability” of Alan Kyerematen as against Akufo-Addo in the 2012 general elections. In the run-up to the 2007 NPP primaries, it was obvious to party supporters and Ghanaians alike that the Castle’s candidate of choice was Alan Kyerematen.

District Chief Executives, Regional and Cabinet Ministers had to toll the line of supporting Alan Kyerematen. Whoever, did not support him was axed from government. Alan Kyerematen had so much resource from the combined efforts of these elements that earned him the name ‘Alan cash’.

Even with the government machinery firmly backing him, he could not convince 1,150 out of the 2,293 delegates, which would have secured him the party’s flagbearer position, to vote for him.

If Alan Kyerematen could not win over 1,150 delegates back in 2007, how can he win over 58,000 delegates this time around to become the party’s flagbearer. Even when he cannot win over the “floating voters” in the NPP, how can Alan Kyerematen win over floating voters in Ghana?

Obviously, Alan’s challenge and performance in the 2007 NPP congress pales in significance when compared to Akufo-Addo’s challenges and performances in the 2007 congress as well as 2008 national elections. In the 2008 general elections, Akufo-Addo had an even steeper challenge of all the allegations of corruption, influx of illicit drugs, insensitivity of the NPP government to the sufferings of Ghanaians, etc which were leveled against the NPP government. In spite of all these, Akufo-Addo in his first outing as Presidential Candidate only lost to the winner, Prof. Mills, by a margin of 46,000 votes, securing as much as 49.77% of the second round votes. This is unprecedented in the political history of this country.

How can this idiot called Nana Amankwah then compare Alan Kyerematen to Akufo-Addo? It is evidently clear that the posturing of the Alan camp is to destroy anything but Alan in the NPP. It remains to be seen how they will get out of the same pit they are digging for others.

My brothers in Tamale wish to let the saboteurs of the party and those in the Alan camp who are bent on destroying Akufo-Addo know that if Akufo-Addo does not succeed in the 2012 elections, we promise them that Insha Allah, Alan Kyerematen will never become NPP flagbearer, and that is a promise!

** *Mallam Inusah Alhassan*

*Tamale*

*malinussan@yahoo.com *