Kufuor reveals more secrets about NPP 2024 defeat

Former President John Agyekum Kufuor has openly criticised major policy decisions taken under the Akufo-Addo administration, blaming them for the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) defeat in the 2024 general elections.

Speaking in an interview on The Delay Show with host Deloris Frimpong Manso, the former president said he neither understood nor supported several flagship decisions, including the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP), the controversial National Cathedral project and the botched Power Distribution Services (PDS) concession.

According to Kufuor, these decisions created avoidable economic and political turmoil, eroded public confidence and ultimately contributed to the party’s loss of support.

Kufuor disclosed that he was not consulted before these major policies were rolled out, despite their significant national implications.

“I did not attend cabinet meetings, so I was not consulted. I only saw things happening,” he said.

He described the National Cathedral project in particular as troubling, citing the demolition of residential apartments for judges and senior public officials – only for the project to stall indefinitely.

“Apartments that housed judges and others were demolished for the National Cathedral, yet it remains unfinished,” he lamented.

Kufuor further stated that the NPP’s 2016 landslide victory was largely anchored on the development record of his own administration.

“Before the 2016 election in which Akufo-Addo was elected, the campaign was built on my achievements,” he noted.
“The government started on a good note, but things changed after he assumed power.”

He pointed to the collapse of Ghana’s bond market, the PDS scandal and the debt exchange programme as policy failures he struggled to comprehend.

“After COVID-19, I could not understand some of the decisions taken — the bond market issues, PDS and the National Cathedral,” Kufuor stressed.

Reflecting on the NPP’s electoral journey from 2016 to 2024, he said the results show that Ghanaian voters are discerning and must never be underestimated.

“We won the 2016 elections by a landslide. The 2020 elections were tense and produced a hung Parliament, and the 2024 elections were something else entirely,” he said.

“This shows that the Ghanaian electorate should never be taken for granted. It is a lesson for politicians to be mindful of their actions.”