Kufuor urges youth to ensure good leadership
Ghana News Agency
Former President John Agyekum Kufuor has called on the youth in the country to look beyond their party affiliations in ensuring good leadership for the country.
“I want you to see beyond your immediate party connections and look at the long-term well being of the country,” he said, when delivering his key note address at the opening of a three-day workshop for the youth on election 2012.
Themed, “Towards a Peaceful 2012 General Elections in Ghana,” the workshop is being attended by young people from tertiary institutions across the country.
Former President Kufuor said whilst the country was richly blessed with raw materials, “what seems to be lacking is the leadership that would make use of all our natural resources”.
He said growth in GDP which was often announced as proof of a ruling government’s competence, hardly reflected in any improvement in the well-being of the governed.
“Election 2012 is critical because Ghana has all it takes to move forward,” he said, adding that the right choice of a leader was going to make all the difference.
The former President urged political parties to abide by the provisions of the constitution and accept the results of the election, the moment they were confirmed by the Electoral Commission.
The workshop is a collaboration between the Kufuor Foundation and the International Republican Institute.
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Former Ghanaian President Kufuor calls for fairness in 2012 polls
Xinhua
ACCRA- Former Ghanaian President John Agyekum Kufuor Tuesday called on the country’s Electoral Commission (EC) to institute measures that would ensure a fair and balanced atmosphere for all political parties in the Dec. 7 polls.
Addressing a cross-section of the youth here at a three-day workshop organized by the John Agyekum Kufuor (JAK) Foundation, in collaboration with the International Republic Institute, Kufuor emphasized Ghana could have free and fair polls if the EC remained neutral and did not bend the rules to favor any political party or candidate.
“If we will have peaceful elections this year, it will depend on how the referee (EC) conducts itself above all,” He stated.
The former Ghanaian leader cautioned the absence of fairness on the part of the electoral body in the conduct of the presidential and parliamentary elections could spark unnecessary tension or violent reactions.
He urged participants to take advantage of the opportunities the Foundation presented to them and learn more about leadership to influence their peers on the various university campuses.
The EC has come under a barrage of criticisms from various interest groups, including leading opposition party members, over its decision to create 45 new constitutions ahead of the December polls.
Members of the Minority in Parliament Monday walked out during deliberations on the first of the mandatory 21 sitting days required for the maturation of the Legislative Instrument (C.I.77) giving legal backing to the creation of the new constituencies.
The JAK Foundation, an initiative of the former president, was launched in the Ghanaian capital in September, last year, to expose young people to good governance and leadership training.
Kufuor won political power in the 2000 general election and ruled from January 7, 2001, to January 6, 2009, becoming the second president of the Fourth Republic of Ghana.
He is also a former chair of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), African Union (AU), and the UN inter- peace program.
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Video: Ghana and its Presidents and Power
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Ghana’s rule
The Akan
1670s–1896 The Ashanti (Asante) Empire/Confederacy (Asanteman) -ruled by a non-absolute ruled monarch, the title Asantehene
1868 –1874 Fante Confederacy
Yaa Asantewaa War March 1900 – September 1900: The Ashanti/Asante annexed into the British Empire but maintained its de facto independence.
Independence from the United Kingdom: March 6, 1957
Republic of Ghana July 1,1960
Republic of Ghana July 1,1960
Colonial Gold Coast 1896-1957
March 6, 1957 to July 1, 1960 Queen Elizabeth II
represented by:
March 6, 1957 to June 24, 1957 Sir Charles Noble Arden-Clarke, Governor-General
June 24, 1957 to July 1, 1960 William Francis Hare, Lord Listowel, the 5th Earl of Listowel, Governor-General
represented by:
March 6, 1957 to June 24, 1957 Sir Charles Noble Arden-Clarke, Governor-General
June 24, 1957 to July 1, 1960 William Francis Hare, Lord Listowel, the 5th Earl of Listowel, Governor-General
Republic of Ghana
July 1, 1960 to February 24, 1966 Dr.h.c. Kwame Nkrumah, President CPP Deposed in a coup d’état
February 24, 1966 to April 2, 1969 Major-General Joseph Arthur Ankrah, Chairman of the National Liberation Council Mil
April 2, 1969 to September 3, 1969 Brigadier Akwasi Amankwa Afrifa, Chairman of the National Liberation Council Mil
September 3, 1969 to August 7, 1970 Brigadier Akwasi Amankwa Afrifa, Chairman of the Presidential Commission
August 7, 1970 to August 31, 1970 Nii Amaa Ollennu, Acting President
August 31, 1970 to January 13, 1972 Edward Akufo-Addo, President n-p Deposed in a coup d’état
January 13, 1972 to October 9, 1975 Colonel Ignatius Kutu Acheampong, Chairman of the National Redemption Council Mil
October 9, 1975 to July 5, 1978 General Ignatius Kutu Acheampong, Chairman of the Supreme Military Council Deposed in a palace coup d’état
July 5, 1978 to June 4, 1979 Lieutenant-General Frederick Fred William Kwasi Akuffo, Chairman of the Supreme Military Council Mil Deposed in a coup d’état
June 4, 1979 to September 24, 1979 Flight Lieutenant Jerry John Rawlings, Chairman of the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council Mil 1st Term
September 24, 1979 to December 31, 1981 Dr. Hilla Limann, President PNP Deposed in a coup d’état
December 31, 1981 to January 7, 1993 Flight Lieutenant Jerry John Rawlings, Chairman of the Provisional National Defense Council Mil 2nd Term
January 7, 1993 to January 7, 2001 Jerry John Rawlings, President NDC
January 7, 2001 to January 7, 2009 John Agyekum Kufuor, President NPP
January 7, 2009 to July 24, 2012 John Evans Atta Mills, President NDC Died in office
July 24, 2012 to Present John Dramani Mahama, President NDC
Ghana population: 24,652,402 (July 2012 est.)
Dilemma X 
September 5, 2012
Africa