There is a silver lining in every cloud and the former General Secretary of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), John Boadu seems to have discovered his after suffering a shocking defeat in July.
Speaking publicly for the first time since being voted out of office, the politician said he was grateful to be relieved of “the kind of burden” that came with the role.
While admitting that he sometimes misses his former job, he noted that now he has time to bond with his family, especially his 7-year-old son.
“I was missing a lot, I didn’t even know,” he told Emefa Apawu on JoyNews’ The Probe on Sunday.
Mr Boadu further went on to narrate how his youngest son confused him with President Akufo-Addo.
“Weeks ago, my son asked me ‘Daddy are you John Boadu or Nana Akufo-Addo?’ I was confused and asked him ‘Why are you asking me this question?’ he said one of his mates asked him whether his father is John Boadu or Nana Akufo-Addo. So I asked him what answer he gave and my son said he doesn’t know.
“And this is because he sees me once in a while. In the morning some people come to my house, we have a meeting, and we leave and return in a week’s time. Sometimes I return and he’s gone to school so there was little interaction. So I can only imagine what my elder children went through,” he recounted.
Although Mr Boadu’s 7-year-old sought to get clarity from his father, the politician saw the innocent question as a wake-up call to up his fatherly duty roles in his son’s life.
“If it wasn’t for this defeat I wouldn’t have known,” he said amid shock.
“So I think all these things are God’s plan to shape you in order for you to understand some things. Now I help him with his homework, I go to his PTA [Parent Teacher Association] meetings, I get in touch with teachers and I think that I need that kind of atmosphere as well,” he noted.
The outspoken politician in the one-hour interview said despite his defeat he is still committed to the party and will support the NPP from behind the scenes to ‘Break the 8’ as promised.
Mr Boadu lost to Justin Frimpong Koduah, alias JFK in the keenly contested election held at the Accra Sports Stadium in July 2022.
JFK polled 2,857 votes to beat Mr Boadu who obtained 2,524 votes out of the total 5,556 votes cast.