General News of 2026-10-15
'Akufo-Addo’s legacy will be written in gold' - Abu Jinapor
Member of Parliament for Damongo, Samuel Abu Jinapor, has said Ghanaians will eventually appreciate the legacy of former President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, insisting that history will rank him among the country’s best presidents.
Speaking on Asempa FM’s Ekoosisen on October 14, 2026, he said public assessments of political leaders often change with time, arguing that contemporary criticism does not necessarily determine how history will judge them.
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“History is not written in the contemporary time. History is not written in the moment, and that is why they say that when it comes to history, the jury will still be out there,” he said.
Jinapor cited Ghana’s first President, Dr Kwame Nkrumah, as an example, noting that his place in the country’s history has increasingly been reassessed over time.
He also referenced former President John Agyekum Kufuor, who left office in 2008, and former President John Dramani Mahama, whose administration ended in 2017, as examples of leaders whose records continue to attract public discussion.
"You know, the jubilation that took place in Ghana when Nkrumah has overthrown but I think the history is now being written to accord President Nkrumah his right place in the annals of our country. When former President Kufuor left office in 2008, Ghanaians said lots of things about him, and the same thing happened when Mahama left office in 2016", he noted.
The Damongo MP further cited former British Prime Minister Winston Churchill, who led the United Kingdom during World War II but lost the 1945 general election to Clement Attlee, to demonstrate the difference between contemporary political opinion and historical judgment.
"You go to United Kingdom, the man who's been acclaimed as the greatest Englishman of all time, Winston Churchill. At the time Winston Churchill won the war for United Kingdom in 1945, he was in Yalta negotiating for UK when the election results were declared. He was defeated by Clement Attlee", he stated.
Jinapor expressed confidence that the former president’s achievements would ultimately earn him a positive place in Ghana’s history.
“In the course of time, his name will be written in gold in the history of Ghana. There are no two ways about that. Even on account of Free SHS alone, he has earned his place in Ghanaian history,” he said.
He described Akufo-Addo as one of the best presidents Ghana has had, arguing that his administration undertook considerable work despite the economic difficulties the country experienced during his tenure.
Jinapor, however, acknowledged that the economic challenges and some of the interventions introduced to address them caused hardship for sections of the population.
He specifically cited the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP), which affected bondholders, including pensioners, and said the resulting difficulties should be honestly acknowledged.
“Some of the decisions and some of the interventions which were rolled out to ensure recovery and ensure that we clean up the economic system caused pain to some Ghanaians, and that is something that we have to admit,” he said.
He added that governments should be assessed on the totality of their records rather than on individual policies or interventions.
Jinapor maintained that, despite the economic challenges and the criticism surrounding some of his policies, Akufo-Addo’s overall record would stand out positively when history ultimately judges his presidency.
JKB/VPO
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