Everything about John Kufuor totally explained
John Kofi Agyekum Kufuor (born
December 8,
1938) is the current president of
Ghana, since
January 7 2001. He ran for election in 2000 and won, succeeding
Jerry Rawlings, who defeated him when he previously ran for President in the election in 1996; Kufuor's victory marked the first peaceful democratic transition of power in Ghana since the country's independence was declared. Kufuor was also the
Chairperson of the African Union from 2007 to 2008.
Biography
Early life and background
A member of the
Akan people, Kufuor is married to Theresa Kufuor (née Mensah), with whom he's had five children. Kufuor and his family belong to the
Roman Catholic Church. He was born in
Kumasi and educated at Osei Tutu Boarding School (1951-53),
Prempeh College (1954-58),
Lincoln's Inn, London (1959-1961) and
Exeter College,
University of Oxford (1961-1964). In the Second Republic's Parliamentary Register Kufuor lists as his hobbies and interests table tennis, reading, football, and film shows.
Early political career
As
Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs he represented Ghana on a number of occasions. From 1969 to December, 1971, he led Ghana's delegation to the
United Nations General Assembly in
New York, the
Organization of African Unity (OAU) Ministerial Meetings in
Addis Ababa, and the Summit Conference of the Non-Aligned Movement in
Lusaka. In 1970, he led the Ghanaian delegation to
Moscow in the former
Soviet Union,
Prague (Former
Czechoslovakia), and
Belgrade (Yugoslavia) to discuss Ghana's indebtedness to these countries.
As the Spokesman on
Foreign Affairs and Deputy
Opposition Leader of the
Popular Front Party (PFP) Parliamentary Group during the Third Republic, he was invited to accompany President Limann to the OAU Summit Conference in
Freetown, Sierra Leone. He was also a member of the parliamentary delegation that visited the
United States of America (USA) in 1981 to talk to the
International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the
World Bank on Ghana's economic problems.
In January, 1982, the leadership of the All People's Party (APP), which was an alliance of all the opposition parties, advised some leading members, including the Deputy Leader of the Alliance, Alhaji Iddrisu Mahama, the General Secretary, Dr. Obed Asamoah and Mr. J. A. Kufuor to accept an invitation from the
Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC) to serve in what was purported to be a National Government. Kufuor was appointed the Secretary for Local Government in this new government.
As a Secretary for Local Government, he wrote the Local Government Policy Guidelines that were to be the foundation of the current decentralized District Assemblies.
Presidency
On
April 20,
1996, Kufuor was nominated by 1034 out of 2000
delegates of the
New Patriotic Party (NPP) drawn from all the 200 Constituencies of the Country to run for the President of Ghana on
December 10,
1996. After campaigning for less than nine months, Kufuor polled 39.62% of the popular votes to Rawlings' 57% in the 1996 election. On
October 23,
1998, he was re-nominated by the New Patriotic Party not only to run again for President but also to officially assume the position of Leader of the Party.
Kufuor won the presidential election of
December 2000; in the first round, held on
December 7, Kufuor came in first place with 48.4%, while
John Atta-Mills,
Jerry Rawlings' Vice President, came in second with 44.8%, forcing the two into a
run-off vote. In the second round, held on
December 28, Kufour was victorious, taking 56.9% of the vote.
Kufuor was re-elected in presidential and parliamentary elections held on
December 7 2004, earning 52.45% of the popular vote in the first round and thus avoiding a run-off, while at the same time Kufuor's party, the New Patriotic Party, was able to secure more seats in the
Parliament of Ghana.
(External Link
)
On
January 29 2007, Kufuor was elected as the
Chairperson of the African Union for the 2007-2008 AU session. He was succeeded by
Jakaya Kikwete of
Tanzania on
January 31 2008.
Kufuor was involved in a car crash on
November 14 2007, in which another car collided with his and caused it to roll over several times. Kufuor was reported to be uninjured.
John Kufuor's First Cabinet (Jan 2001)
John Kufuor's Second Cabinet (Jan 2005)
John Agyekum Kufuor — President of Ghana
Hon. Aliu Mahama — Vice President of Ghana
Hon. Yaw Osafo-Maafo — Minister of Education and Sports
Hon. Joseph K. Adda — Minister for Manpower, Youth & Development
Hon. Kan-Dapaah — Minister for Communication & Technology
Dr. Paa Kwesi Nduom — Minister of Energy Replaced later by;
Hon. Mike Oquaye — Minister of Energy
Hajia Alima Mahama — Ministry for Women & Children's Affairs
Hon. Kwadwo Baah Wiredu — Minister for Finance & Economic Planning
Mr. Dan Botwe — Minister of Information
Dr Kwame Addo-Kufuor — Minister of Defense
Mr Jacob Otanka Obetsebi-Lamptey — Minister for Tourism & Modernization of Capital City
Mr. Charles Bintim — Ministry for Local Government & Rural Rural Development
Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo — Minister for Foreign Affairs and NEPAD
Mrs. Gladys Asmah — Minister for Fisheries
Mr. Ernest Akobuor Debrah — Minister of Agriculture and Food
Major (Rtd) Courage Emmanuel Kobla Quashigah — Minister of Health
Ms Christine Churcher — Minister for Environment and Science
Hon. Kwamina Bartels — Minister for Private Sector Development & PSI
Hon. Dr. Richard Winfred Anane — Minister for Road Transport
Prof. Christopher Ameyaw-Akumfi — Minister for Habours & Railways
Mr. Alan Kyeremanten — Minister for Trade and Industry
Mr. Papa Owusu Ankomah — Minister for the Interior
Mr. Prof. Mike Oquaye — Attorney-General & Minister for Justice
Hon. Felix Owusu-Agyapong — Minister for Parliamentary Affairs
Miss Elizabeth Ohene — Minister of State in Charge of Tertiary Education
John Kufuor's Third Cabinet (2006)
John Agyekum Kufuor — President of Ghana
Hon. Aliu Mahama — Vice President of Ghana
Hon. Papa Owusu Ankama — Minister of Education, Science and Sports
Hon. Joseph K. Adda — Minister for Manpower, Youth & Employment
Prof. Mike Oquaye — Minister for Communication
Hajia Alima Mahama — Ministry for Women & Children's Affairs
Hon. Kwadwo Baah Wiredu — Minister for Finance & Economic Planning
Mr. Kwamina Bartels — Minister for Information and National Orientation
Dr. Kwame Addo-Kufuor — Minister of Defense
Mr Jacob Otanka Obetsebi-Lamptey — Minister for Tourism & Diaporan Relations
Mr. Asamoah Boateng — Ministry for Local Government, Rural Development & Environment
Dr. Patrick Moore — Minister of Mining and Minerals
Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo — Minister for Foreign Affairs and NEPAD
Mrs. Gladys Asmah — Minister for Fisheries
Mr. Ernest Akobuor Debrah — Minister of Food & Agriculture
Major (Rtd) Courage Emmanuel Kobla Quashigah — Minister of Health
Hon. Dr. Richard Winfred Anane — Minister for Transportation (Later Resigned)
Prof. Christopher Ameyaw-Akumfi — Minister for Ports, Habours & Railways
Mr. Alan Kyeremanten — Minister for Trade and Industry, Private Sector Development & PSI
Mr. Albert Kan-Dapaah — Minister for the Interior
Mr. Joe Ghartey — Attorney-General & Minister for Justice
Hon. Felix Owusu Agyapong — Minister for Parliamentary Affairs & Acting Minister for Transportation
Mr. Francis Poku — Minister for National Security
Mr. Kwadwo Mpiani — Minister for Presidential Affairs
Hon. S.K. Boafo — Minister of State in Charge of Culture & Chieftancy Affairs
Miss Elizabeth Ohene — Minister of State at the PresidencyFurther Information
Get more info on 'John Kufuor'.
|
External Link Exchanges
Do you know how hard it is to get a link from a large encyclopaedia? Well we're different and will prove it. To get a link from us just add the following HTML to your site on a relevant page:
<a href="http://john_kufuor.totallyexplained.com">John Kufuor Totally Explained</a>
Then simply click through this link from your web page. Our crawlers will verify your link, extract the title of your web page and instantly add a link back to it. If you like you can remove the words Totally Explained and embed the link in article text.
As long as your link remains in place, we'll keep our link to you right here. Please play fair - our crawlers are watching. Your site must be closely related to this one's topic. Any kind of spamming, dubious practises or removing the link will result in your link from us being dropped and, potentially, your whole site being banned. |
