Ghana has no ex-president called Kuffour

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Ben Kuffour 11 years ago

Stupid article, does this merit an article? How do you know Kufour is not the wrong spelling? I am Akan, a Bono from Berekum and my name is Kuffour. The only time I have seen the Kuffour name spelled with one 'f' is the form ...
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Stupid article, does this merit an article? How do you know Kufour is not the wrong spelling? I am Akan, a Bono from Berekum and my name is Kuffour. The only time I have seen the Kuffour name spelled with one 'f' is the former President and I believe somebody made a mistake in spelling it that way.

Kuffour is just like Tuffour or Duffuor, always spelled with double 'f'

Kufuor sounds like English people trying to pronounce Kuffour. You as a Northerner should not be telling Akans how to write our names.
CARDINAL 11 years ago

Write "de facto" and not "de factor" and stop worrying about how Kuffour should be spelt.

Kufuor might have gained credence as how the former President's name should be spelt due to maybe an Englishman somewhere who maybe ...
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Write "de facto" and not "de factor" and stop worrying about how Kuffour should be spelt.

Kufuor might have gained credence as how the former President's name should be spelt due to maybe an Englishman somewhere who maybe hearing the President's name phonetically spelt it wrong.

As I told you when you argued against my spelling of the name, my nephew Sammy Kuffour's name is just like the President and have never seen any other Kuffour whose name is spelt KUFUOR apart from the President.

I will still write the former President's name as the Asantes write it, Kuffour and not Kufuor. I know a Northerner like you will write an ASANTE as ASHANTI which is the Englishman's version.

Thanks anyway.
KB 11 years ago

It is clear that most Asantes will spell it "Kuffour" because it corresponds best to the way they pronounce it but, more importantly, it has become the acceptable way of spelling such names by the ethnic group whose name it i ...
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It is clear that most Asantes will spell it "Kuffour" because it corresponds best to the way they pronounce it but, more importantly, it has become the acceptable way of spelling such names by the ethnic group whose name it is.

But the most important thing is that if a particular Asante man, especially one who is a public figure, chooses to spell that name in a particular way different from the traditional spelling, then we, the others, must respect his choice and use that way of spelling it. We cannot insist that we will spell it the way we think it should be spelt. That will be presumptuous on our part.

There are judicial implications to it which are far more important than the insistence on respecting traditional spelling. The legal entity which is the former President of the Republic of Ghana is represented by the signs KUFUOR, not KUFFOUR. You may disagree with the way he chooses to write his name but you cannot refuse to use it the way he writes it.

I am sure Kufuor himself may have, through his long life, variously spelt his name differently. But as a public figure, he has wilfully chosen to settle on KUFUOR. That is the name that has been gazetted for him. It will be a mark of disrespect to him to spell it otherwise.

Okoampa is always particular about this. I am sure he, too, knows the common spelling is Kuffour but he consistently writes K-U-F-U-O-R and Akufo-Addo. Nothing else. He is right in doing so.
CARDINAL 11 years ago

As a matter of fact, I don't think this is not even an issue that deserves an article.

Tell me whether it is KWAME or KWAMI

KWASI, AKWASI or KWESI

TAO or YAW

As a country, we have more important issue to be worrie ...
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As a matter of fact, I don't think this is not even an issue that deserves an article.

Tell me whether it is KWAME or KWAMI

KWASI, AKWASI or KWESI

TAO or YAW

As a country, we have more important issue to be worried about than to be arguing about how names should be spelt.
Nemesis 11 years ago

You must be a very controversial, stiffnecked individual. Why don't you just stop this unnecessary argument, if you think there are more important issues to be worried about as a country? Go tell it to these mothrfuckers in t ...
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You must be a very controversial, stiffnecked individual. Why don't you just stop this unnecessary argument, if you think there are more important issues to be worried about as a country? Go tell it to these mothrfuckers in the NDC govt, led by Dumsor Mahama. Tell this corrupt govt to fix the problems. Why don't you want to accept the fact that the ex-president's name is Kufuor, not Kuffour? Don't think it's a trivial issue. It's not. There are many other examples he has cited, which is why this article is very informative and educative.
CARDINAL 11 years ago

No Asante will spell Kuffour as Kufuor and I don't need a Northerner to tell me that. Don't start any insult nonsense with me.

No Asante will spell Kuffour as Kufuor and I don't need a Northerner to tell me that. Don't start any insult nonsense with me.
CARDINAL 11 years ago

Hey, give me a break, Mr language expert even did not know that there is no latin word like "de factor" but rather "de facto"

Hey, give me a break, Mr language expert even did not know that there is no latin word like "de factor" but rather "de facto"
Asiwome 11 years ago

Not knowing the right ways and wrong ways of doing things.

Not knowing the right ways and wrong ways of doing things.
KOLA, LONDON PROPER 11 years ago

Keep it up, I have learnt to spell the thief's name now as Kufuor with an 'or' and only one 'f'.

Though he is a thief, I have learnt to spell the name because of your intelligible article which also you did slay me with it ...
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Keep it up, I have learnt to spell the thief's name now as Kufuor with an 'or' and only one 'f'.

Though he is a thief, I have learnt to spell the name because of your intelligible article which also you did slay me with it.
Kwesi 11 years ago

Of course, it is not the most important thing facing us as a nation. Nobody will argue that it is. Better we spell the man's name whichever way we want as long us there is constant electricity, good water, good roads, strong ...
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Of course, it is not the most important thing facing us as a nation. Nobody will argue that it is. Better we spell the man's name whichever way we want as long us there is constant electricity, good water, good roads, strong cedi, less corruption, votes accurately counted, high employment, etc etc etc.

But ... if the only thing we discuss here are the important things facing our country, how boring will life on ghanaweb be!

I think the topic is a small thing but worth discussing.

CARDINAL 11 years ago

Why do you spell your name Kwesi but not Akwasi or Kwasi?

Believe me, I know. You might be an Ewe or Fanti because an Asante will spell it Kwasi or Akwasi.

Unless you are writing an official letter or court document in ...
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Why do you spell your name Kwesi but not Akwasi or Kwasi?

Believe me, I know. You might be an Ewe or Fanti because an Asante will spell it Kwasi or Akwasi.

Unless you are writing an official letter or court document in which case the spelling of the name is of utmost important, I don't see how this should have merited an article but Idris can write whatever fancies his taste and I will write the name as an Asante will write it not what Idris want.
CARE 11 years ago

Ex-pres Kufuor too is an Asante but chooses to write Kufuor instead of Kuffour.

Many people were unaware of this correct spelling. Thanks, Mr Idris.

Ex-pres Kufuor too is an Asante but chooses to write Kufuor instead of Kuffour.

Many people were unaware of this correct spelling. Thanks, Mr Idris.
Kwesi 11 years ago

This discussion is not to force you to write it in a specific way. You have every right to spell it the way you think it should be spelt as long as you are consistent with your spelling. Nobody can prevent you from that. More ...
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This discussion is not to force you to write it in a specific way. You have every right to spell it the way you think it should be spelt as long as you are consistent with your spelling. Nobody can prevent you from that. More importantly, ghanaweb will never change it because ghanaweb does not edit articles and has no specific standard requirements for its contributors. But if you send the same article to myjoyonline, they will change it to "Kufuor" because that organisation has standards and reads through contributions before posting.

I think my Kwesi, Kwasi, etc doesn't matter because it's just a moniker and I AM NOT A PUBLIC FIGURE! I am just a nonentity...

This discussion is for the sake of argument only. Nothing more.
IDRIS PACAS 11 years ago

Just for LAUGH!

I didn't make any mistake: the spelling DE FACTOR is only in compliance with Murphy's Law, which explains that any write-up attempting to correct another typically contains other errors. Thus, writing it as ...
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Just for LAUGH!

I didn't make any mistake: the spelling DE FACTOR is only in compliance with Murphy's Law, which explains that any write-up attempting to correct another typically contains other errors. Thus, writing it as de facto would have violated this law.

Also, the 'error' is the source of many of your comments. So it's worth it.

Many of you would have cross-checked it in your dictionaries. In so doing, you might have seen the words above and below it. This alone increases you vocabs. Thank me.

Keep reading and commenting; I love you all and God bless everyone especially Cardinal. Ghanaweb is sweet.

Don't personalize things here.
Kwame 11 years ago

Although a good reminder, just a paragraph to explain his point would have been far better than this lengthy piece.

Although a good reminder, just a paragraph to explain his point would have been far better than this lengthy piece.
IKE 11 years ago

The article is posted under 'OPINIONS'. The writer clearly expressed his opinion in a justified manner.

Next time, use a paragraph to express yours.

The article is posted under 'OPINIONS'. The writer clearly expressed his opinion in a justified manner.

Next time, use a paragraph to express yours.
Ismail 11 years ago

The best you can do is to advise pres.kufuor to change his name. It will be published and garzzeted. You will then have the right to spell his name as kuffour. Other than that, stop the north-akan thing and shut up.

The best you can do is to advise pres.kufuor to change his name. It will be published and garzzeted. You will then have the right to spell his name as kuffour. Other than that, stop the north-akan thing and shut up.
ATU 11 years ago

This VERY SENSIBLE AND USEFUL article is educating Ghanaians about the correct spelling of our former president's name. It's nothing to do with Akan tradition.

You're even a inferior Akan. Mr Kufuor himself a true Akan, sp ...
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This VERY SENSIBLE AND USEFUL article is educating Ghanaians about the correct spelling of our former president's name. It's nothing to do with Akan tradition.

You're even a inferior Akan. Mr Kufuor himself a true Akan, specifically an Asante royal, wrote his name as Kufuor. If you've a problem with the spelling, please direct your anger at Kufuor himself.
Free Speech 11 years ago

Why are you so worried about this man? He is somebody not to be accorded anything better, because he sold Ghana's properties to his brothers, children and NPP MP's.

Any time his name is mentioned, it stings. Therefore wh ...
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Why are you so worried about this man? He is somebody not to be accorded anything better, because he sold Ghana's properties to his brothers, children and NPP MP's.

Any time his name is mentioned, it stings. Therefore whether spelt correctly or not it stings. Justice Sarpong an Asante, will agree.
Ibn Batuta 11 years ago

Kufuor is a former president not an ex-president. Ex is usually used when you are forced out of power. Nkrumah, Limann are ex preidents; Rawlings, Mills and Kufuor are former presidents.

Kufuor is a former president not an ex-president. Ex is usually used when you are forced out of power. Nkrumah, Limann are ex preidents; Rawlings, Mills and Kufuor are former presidents.

Kwaku Asante Gyeabour 11 years ago

Ex-president and former president are the same.

Ex-president and former president are the same.
MANGOSUCKER 11 years ago

HIS REAL NAME IS THIEFUOR

HIS REAL NAME IS THIEFUOR
Desmond Bruku 11 years ago

... you have yourself committed the grievous error that you are accusing others of. You said at this point in your article:

"...The word ‘bona fide’, typical of other Latin modifiers such as ‘sine die’ and ‘de fa ...
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... you have yourself committed the grievous error that you are accusing others of. You said at this point in your article:

"...The word ‘bona fide’, typical of other Latin modifiers such as ‘sine die’ and ‘de factor’, comprises two separate parts..."

My beef is with your spelling of "de facto" as "de factor". Do you know that Latin doesn't have "factor" but "facto"?

Indeed, there are many ways for killing a cat!
GEORHE 11 years ago

Mr Idris stated that Latin modifiers such as bona fide, de facto etc are open compounds. Despite wrongly adding an 'r', he perfectly typed them as separate parts. Good work.

Don't trivialise the issue. Misspelling an ex-pr ...
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Mr Idris stated that Latin modifiers such as bona fide, de facto etc are open compounds. Despite wrongly adding an 'r', he perfectly typed them as separate parts. Good work.

Don't trivialise the issue. Misspelling an ex-presidrnt's name is a serious mistake. Don't compare that to the misspelling of a common word.

If you go to the US or UK, nobody will ever misspell their MPs or Congress men /women names let alone that of the PM or president.

Mr Idris, thanks for this.
Kwesi 11 years ago

Georhe, I agree with you that the issue should not be trivialised. Many serious publications apologize for spelling names wrongly. In fact, no serious publication will even spell a public person's name wrongly in the first pl ...
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Georhe, I agree with you that the issue should not be trivialised. Many serious publications apologize for spelling names wrongly. In fact, no serious publication will even spell a public person's name wrongly in the first place.

The thing is that, there are many Kuffours, Kufours, etc. in Ghana. A particular person can choose to distinguish himself from the lot by changing the spelling of his name so that he will be unique in some way. It is not in our place to insist that the person should spell it the way we think it should be spelt.

The former president has been a public figure since he was 28 years old as a junior minister in Busia's government. He has been president for 8 years. He is still a public figure today as an elder statesman. Throughout these nearly 50 years of public life, he has spelt his name KUFUOR. Who are we to come and say that he shouldn't spell it that way?
KRB 11 years ago

1. The advice of f as an ascender will apply to people who are only now learning to write. Everyone else types directly into a computer which takes care of such things. This also affords them the opportunity to write bold and ...
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1. The advice of f as an ascender will apply to people who are only now learning to write. Everyone else types directly into a computer which takes care of such things. This also affords them the opportunity to write bold and italicised letters. If they choose the latter, they may correctly write an f that enters the line below. The fact that ghanaweb may not oblige them does not negate that fact.

2. The common pronunciation of bona fide is "bonafaidi" as you indicate but should anyone be faulted for pronouncing it differently? Perhaps not. Websters online provides three correct pronunciations: \?b?-n?-?f?d, ?bä-; ?b?-n?-?f?-d?, -?f?-d?\. This is a borrowed phrase. Italians, whose language is nearest to Latin, will not pronounce this word bonafaidi even if they're speaking English. That is not the way the word is pronounced in Latin. Many non-English speakers using English pronounce that word the way it is written: bo-na fi-de. It is no longer necessary to insist that the phrase be pronounced the way the people of England "mispronounce" it.

What will you say is the pronunciation of "furore"? The British say both \?fyu?r-??r, -?r, or fyu?-?r?-ri\.

I think you're right that the correct spelling of the former president's name is KUFUOR. Nothing else is right even from Kufuor himself. In the same way, whether you like the man or not, his name is Akufo-Addo. Nothing else will be right. You can't play games with a person's name.
KRB 11 years ago

I should've known better

bona fide is pronounced differently as bo-ne-faid, bo-ne-faidi, bo-ne-fi-de

furore as fyu-ror or fyu-ro-ri

I should've known better

bona fide is pronounced differently as bo-ne-faid, bo-ne-faidi, bo-ne-fi-de

furore as fyu-ror or fyu-ro-ri
JOHN 11 years ago

The writer only wrote one of the pronunciations, the commonest. Choose to follow his or the others. The most important thing is that you must write BONA FIDE, and not BONAFIDE.

The writer only wrote one of the pronunciations, the commonest. Choose to follow his or the others. The most important thing is that you must write BONA FIDE, and not BONAFIDE.
Hadi 11 years ago

This is not necessary. Language is dynamic my brother. Who cares about this sh....+ We care about technology and engineering because that's what's ruling the world in the 21st century high tech world! Nobody cares about gramm ...
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This is not necessary. Language is dynamic my brother. Who cares about this sh....+ We care about technology and engineering because that's what's ruling the world in the 21st century high tech world! Nobody cares about grammar, please! even in UK, they don't speck Shakespeare's English anymore. Grammar is dead and gone, please! Thanks.
GEO 11 years ago

It is in UK where they write all the most authoritative grammar books. If you nothing, keep QUIET when thinkers are discussing issues.

Anyway, which technology originates in Ghana?

It is in UK where they write all the most authoritative grammar books. If you nothing, keep QUIET when thinkers are discussing issues.

Anyway, which technology originates in Ghana?

Kwame 11 years ago

I am of the view that since Akan is a Kwa language the stress falls on the first consonant after the first vowel. Thus Akan language has a fixed stress. In that case writing a double consonant is improper. The name Kufuor is ...
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I am of the view that since Akan is a Kwa language the stress falls on the first consonant after the first vowel. Thus Akan language has a fixed stress. In that case writing a double consonant is improper. The name Kufuor is supposed to be written Akufuor. The root word is aku, with the stress falling on vowel u, since we are all aware that stress does not fall on a consonant, so with that a consonant can not be stressed with two consonants. Kwa is an analytic language, rather than a flexible language like the Indo-European languages that have the movement of the stress depending on the word formation, in that case the stress can move from the root to the prefix or post fix.
DAGADOO NY USA 11 years ago

Hot air...who cares? Does this bring cassava?

Hot air...who cares? Does this bring cassava?
LONTO-BOY 11 years ago

If officially, former President John Agyekum Kofi Kufour, decides to write KUFOUR as a variation of KUFFOUR, then there is the need to keep attention to details to prevent the kinds of mistakes the writer, Mr Idris Pascas is ...
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If officially, former President John Agyekum Kofi Kufour, decides to write KUFOUR as a variation of KUFFOUR, then there is the need to keep attention to details to prevent the kinds of mistakes the writer, Mr Idris Pascas is pointing out.

Mr John Agyekum Kofi Kufour's name gets misspelled quite often in the print media because of the most common spelling of KUFFOUR[with extra 'F'], especially among most Asantes.

Yes, this might not be the most important national issue to worry about, but legally/professionally, such mistakes on certificates, passports or important documents could have significant and inconvenient ramifications.
MR FOOL 11 years ago

You made a nice point, except that the writer is called PACAS. There's on one 'S' just as the correct name of the ex-president has one 'F'.

Good day!

You made a nice point, except that the writer is called PACAS. There's on one 'S' just as the correct name of the ex-president has one 'F'.

Good day!
KRB 11 years ago

The name is KUFUOR not KUFOUR! It's not only a matter of one f but the U must come before the O.

I guess the former president chose the simplest phonetic way of spelling his name for the sake of non-Asantes. As a public f ...
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The name is KUFUOR not KUFOUR! It's not only a matter of one f but the U must come before the O.

I guess the former president chose the simplest phonetic way of spelling his name for the sake of non-Asantes. As a public figure he saw that not everybody in the world is an Asante who can correctly write and pronounce his name. I think it is a wise decision.
Pelicles 11 years ago

How did you know that your is spelt "Idris Pacas"? I hope you did not choose that name yourself. It was either given to you by your parents or whatever. Now, imagine growing up and find that your is spelt "Iddris Pakas" will ...
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How did you know that your is spelt "Idris Pacas"? I hope you did not choose that name yourself. It was either given to you by your parents or whatever. Now, imagine growing up and find that your is spelt "Iddris Pakas" will you dispute it or change it or how will you be sure of its correct spelling?

Imagine a name like Asomani. Some spell it Asemani, Asamani, Asomaning. Which is which? It is the same thing.
KRB 11 years ago

I don't understand your question. Can you explain it further so that we can know what you're driving at?

If Idris' name is spelt a certain way by his parents when he first went to school and he grows up and decides to cha ...
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I don't understand your question. Can you explain it further so that we can know what you're driving at?

If Idris' name is spelt a certain way by his parents when he first went to school and he grows up and decides to change the spelling and does it legally, then the rest of us must adopt his chosen legal spelling. We can't say that we shall continue writing it the way his parents chose or the way most people normally spell it.

But I still don't understand your question. Maybe Idris does and may respond to you.
IDRIS PACAS 11 years ago

Even ordinary words have correct spellings. And in situations where a given word can be correctly spelt in more than one way, different professionals prefer one to the other or to the rest.

Thus, names, being so important, ...
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Even ordinary words have correct spellings. And in situations where a given word can be correctly spelt in more than one way, different professionals prefer one to the other or to the rest.

Thus, names, being so important, have unique spellings according to ones' culture or tastes. My father gave Iddrisu and I 'legally' changed it to Idris.

Correctly, you must refer to me by my adopted name/spelling. If Asemani, Asamani or Asomaning are the same, somebody prefers one to the others. Refer to that person by his choice.

Specifically, has Mr Kufuor ever said that he could be Kuffour or Kufuor before? He did not rise to become Ghana's president by Akan / Asante traditions but by Ghana's constitution, which recognizes everybody by a specifically spelt name.

Keep changing your name and one day be arrested somewhere. Or fill a form to a school especially a poly or varsity and write Asomaning on it whilst Asamani is on your certificate and see whether you'll not be sacked.

Just use common sense.
Kokurotu 11 years ago

Idris, I really admire your article. You are a very good and intelligent teacher. keep educating us as most of us have been taught wrong things for so long. Ignore all the negative comments above. We adore and admire you. May ...
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Idris, I really admire your article. You are a very good and intelligent teacher. keep educating us as most of us have been taught wrong things for so long. Ignore all the negative comments above. We adore and admire you. May God bless you and other other good teachers like you.
IDRIS PACAS 11 years ago

God bless us all.

God bless us all.

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Ghana has no ex-president called Kuffour

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