The Chairman of the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) Council of Elders, Hackman Owusu-Agyeman, has expressed strong disapproval of recent comments made by Alan Kyerematen regarding former President John Agyekum Kufuor.
Speaking in an interview with JoyNews on Monday, November 25, Mr. Owusu-Agyeman addressed what he described as disrespectful remarks by Mr. Kyerematen.
The controversy follows Mr. Kyerematen’s criticism of Kufuor’s endorsement of Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia for the 2024 general elections.
In his criticism, Mr. Kyerematen questioned how long former President Kufuor had known Dr. Bawumia to be supporting him. He also stated that as a statesman, it was inappropriate for Mr. Kufuor to take sides ahead of the polls.
This remark has sparked considerable debate, leading to Mr. Owusu-Agyeman’s intervention.
Mr. Owusu-Agyeman firmly rebuked Mr. Kyerematen, highlighting the significant contributions former President Kufuor has made to Kyerematen’s political career.
He emphasized that Kufuor’s support for Bawumia should not be a point of contention, especially from someone who has benefited immensely from the former president’s leadership and mentorship.
Mr. Owusu-Agyeman stressed that Mr. Kyerematen’s criticism of Kufuor was both unwarranted and rude.
“What President Kufuor has done for Mr. Kyerematen, I don’t think he has done for anybody in this party. I don’t think Mr. Kyerematen can say that 70% of what President Kufuor had to do came from him. Where was he? I can tell you that as Foreign Minister, he was my ambassador to Washington, and one of the biggest things we did was HIPC. When we were making that decision, the people who were there were President Kufuor, J.H. Mensah, Osafo Marfo, Baros Amos, and myself, along with Ambassador Boris Chalker of the UK. It was President Kufuor who decided that we should go for it, and it yielded results.
“And so if you sit in Washington and say that you gave the idea, I don’t get it. When I came back from the UN, I did nothing but work for the party. The Constitution was written in my house, and our first manifesto was written in my house. So I did nothing but work for the party.”
“For example, I thought I had the capacity to be the flagbearer for the party, but I don’t have the capacity now because what was needed at the time is different from this digital age with AI and all. So if, at that time, President Kufuor thought that Mr. Kyerematen was the person for the moment and then moved on after 20 years, believing that this is the time to move forward, then it is somebody else’s time to do it. But to ask what Bawumia has done is the height of impunity, and it was rude,” he stated.
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