{"id":156660,"date":"2015-10-02T11:24:33","date_gmt":"2015-10-02T11:24:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/4cd.e16.myftpupload.com\/?p=156660"},"modified":"2015-10-02T11:29:36","modified_gmt":"2015-10-02T11:29:36","slug":"kufuor-was-a-normal-leader-k-b-asante","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2015\/10\/kufuor-was-a-normal-leader-k-b-asante\/","title":{"rendered":"‘Kufuor lacked passion but was normal’ \u2013 K.B. Asante"},"content":{"rendered":"

A retired Diplomat and Statesman, K.B Asante has described Ghana\u2019s second president in the fourth Republic, John Agyekum Kufuor’s leadership style as one that lacked passion.<\/p>\n

K.B. Asante said, though Kufuor stood for a good course, he lacked the fire his predecessors like Nkrumah and Rawlings wielded.<\/p>\n

[contextly_sidebar id=”ruVXc5WHYbYytwJNEpDh6smUUrppCBg0″]\u201cKufuor was \u00a0what I will call a normal head of state. In the Western world, he would be a good man. He was a gentleman and tried to get his people together to work for the good of Ghana but it lacked the fire, the enthusiasm of Nkrumah, Rawlings and the others,\u201d said the retired diplomat.<\/p>\n

K.B. Asante, who is 91 and has lived under all the presidents who have governed the nation since Kwame Nkrumah made the assertion on Thursday while speaking on Time with the Legends<\/a><\/strong><\/span> segment on the Citi Breakfast Show<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

He took time to assess Ghana\u2019s past heads of state and their performance over years.<\/p>\n

Support from US and Europe <\/strong><\/p>\n

According to K.B. Asante former President Kufuor aligned with the US and European countries with the hope of courting their support for Ghana\u2019s development.<\/p>\n

To him [K.B Asante], though he does not support such ideologies, Kufuor was partly successful in this line.<\/p>\n

\"K.B.<\/a>
K.B. Asante<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

He said, \u201cI think he [Kufuor] leaned more on the international community like the Americans and the Europeans. He felt that in developing Ghana, we could move faster if we got them on our side. They are many people who believe that but I don\u2019t. I don\u2019t think that if you want to get on, you should always fear the Greeks even if they bring you gold before you ask what is it that they want. I think you should put your own agenda first and ask how far.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cHe [Kufuor] believed in the international community, in the motive of helping us to be on our feet,\u201d the former diplomat added.<\/p>\n

Wrong International dimension<\/strong><\/p>\n

K.B. Asante observed that Kufuor \u201c…had many good schemes to get a country on its feet and he succeeded more or less in some and some he didn\u2019t. But I don\u2019t think he got the international dimension of development correct…the little I know about diplomacy is that, they [foreign countries] are there to promote their national interest.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mills was a good man<\/strong><\/p>\n

On late President John Mills, K.B. Asante described him \u201cas a good man.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI didn\u2019t have much to do with him. I presented petitions to him and things like that. I was then the president of Ga-Adangme and I met him on some occasions to relate the problem, he understood them well. That was the closest I met with him. He was moderately effective,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

–<\/p>\n

By: Godwin A. Allotey\/citifmonline.com\/Ghana<\/p>\n

Follow @AlloteyGodwin<\/a>
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