Monday,
February 25, 2013
Former
President John Agyekum Kufuor says he is committed to ensuring that he remains
relevant to Ghana and Africa’s human development.
He adds that he wants “to remain relevant to the development of the society,
bring added quality to humanity."
I agree with him and urge him to press on. One
may, however, be quick to point to lapses in his own leadership style for the 8
years that he ruled Ghana; but having stepped out of the saddle to see things
from a more disinterested perspective, he can dispassionately approach issues
and offer ideas to society, which is why his decision to establish this
Foundation is commendable.
As I have insisted all along, nation-building
is a collective effort which, unfortunately, we in this part of the world don’t
recognize. That has been our bane because we’ve always sat on the fence or
comfortably in armchairs to launch scathing criticisms against the Head of
State for the obvious failings of his administration to solve problems.
Some justify their criticisms and condemnation,
saying that a fish always begin rotting from the head, invariably to mean that
since the administration can’t solve problems, it must be because the leader is
incompetent, corrupt, or just not the person with the requisite acumen to move
the country forward.
All our heads of state have been targets of
verbal or physical attacks (e.g., the attempted assassination of the Great One,
Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah in the 1962 Kulungugu bomb incident) just because of
dissatisfaction at their leadership style or plain failure of the government to
solve pertinent problems.
Kufuor is no exception. I have taken him on for
obvious reasons to condemn. No one needs any reminder on the inadequacies that
characterized his administration, no matter what his good intentions were. Of
course, it is only a naturally stupid person or someone with something
seriously wrong with his head who will write him off as a total failure who
didn’t do anything good for Ghana in all the 8 years that he ruled.
But, as is characteristic of human beings, it
is his shortfalls that will be raised to assess him. So, the obvious question
is: If such a leader leaves office and establishes a Foundation to explore and
offer ideas/guidance on leadership in Africa, as Kufuor has done, what good
will come out of it?
Kufuor himself seems to have a ready answer. Speaking
in an interview with Joy News after the “J.A. Kufuor Foundation Lectures” on
Friday, he expressed confidence that the support given his Foundation would be
an impetus for greater achievements.
“I’m so encouraged by the reception and I hope
this is going to spur me and the Foundation on to further programmes that will
be truly relevant to developing not only Ghana but help develop Africa,” he
said.
The J.A. Kufuor Foundation which was launched
in September 2011 aims at advocating and promoting leadership and democratic
governance in Africa. It aims at providing a platform for African states to
build stable democracies while promoting the common good of their citizens.
MY COMMENTS
I have already supported this move by the
ex-President to establish and run this Foundation and will continue to praise
him for his foresight. It is gratifying to note that he is the only African
leader to have forged such an institution, not only to immortalize himself as a
former President but also to prove to the world that what other leaders
elsewhere (especially the United States) can do in their post-office life to
continue serving society can be replicated in Africa.
Anybody who doesn’t see the value of this
Foundation must be a truly reactionary and short-sighted person who deserves
pity.
The Foundation’s ideals and aspirations are
clear, and from what has happened since the Foundation was launched and
resources provided for it to begin functioning, it is clear that it will serve
as a major source of inspiration in the pooling together of ideas from
non-partisan sources with which to understand the leadership crisis facing us
and how best to tackle it.
My fear is that if this Foundation is not
properly managed, it may turn out to be a forum for petty politicking, which
will defeat its purposes. Clearly, Kufuor’s political ancestry will rub off on
it, which may create the impression that the Foundation can be used for United
Party politics or that it is an extension of the Danquah-Busia Institute. An
impression that will water down the relevance of the Foundation to those not
attracted by the Danquah-Busia reactionary political thinking.
Undoubtedly, Danquah and Busia have a very
strongly negative niche which is difficult to erase from the minds of those who
have not hesitated to condemn those two forebears of the NPP for whatever they
mean to their opponents. I haven’t really grown to admire anything about them,
anyway. My reading of Ghanaian political history and evidence of their legacy
haven’t well-disposed me toward their cause.
So, if the Kufuor Foundation is not managed
properly, it may easily be categorized as an instrument of the Danquah-Busia
political family and shunned. That shouldn’t be its fate.
Many will want to be assured that it won’t be
limited to the narrow confines of the political family from which Kufuor has
emerged as a leader or that the NPP followers won’t appropriate it for their
partisan political purposes.
Probably, Kufuor himself might have foreseen
this danger, which was why he chose to play it safe by stating clearly that he
has risen above party politics and is now a STATESMAN.
He said so when he decided to participate in
the inauguration of President Mahama in the teeth of his own party’s decision
to boycott that event. Those in his party opposed to the move he made on the
occasion may have their reasons just as he has his. And I hope this Foundation
will truly serve that purpose of statesmanship and make him relevant as he
wishes to be.
His major step is a huge challenge to former
President Rawlings whose rich experiences could serve better purposes than what
he has used or failed to use them for all these years. This is not to draw any
parallel between both in terms of leadership skills or accomplishments. It is
just an attempt to highlight the relevance of the institutions that former
leaders are expected to establish to perpetuate their legacy as such.
A Rawlings Library, for instance, could be
beneficial in many ways. The fire that gutted the Ridge residence did much harm
to valuable legacy, which could have been saved had they been properly secured
elsewhere. Of course, fire can occur anywhere, but there is always a foresight
to rely on.
I hope other African leaders will emulate
Kufuor’s example so that society could benefit from their experiences. The
resources to be made available in the depositories of such a Foundation will
serve very useful purposes, even long after these former leaders have paid
their dues to Nature.
Some may be quick to dismiss this Foundation as
a self-aggrandizing venture. Or that such former leaders stole too much when
they were in office and didn’t solve their countries’ problems, meaning they
should be written off as good riddance. Returning to the public sphere with
such projects might, therefore, portray them
as mere attention seekers. I disagree.
In any case, their establishing Foundations to
help us learn more about issues shouldn’t be negatively received. Probably,
part of the loot has gone into establishing such a Foundation. How about that?
Paying back time?
I commend Kufuor again and wish the Foundation
well. Anybody with contrary views can jump in.
I shall return…
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E-mail:
mjbokor@yahoo.com
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