Former President John Agyekum Kufuor has shared his thoughts on what he thinks contributed to the New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration’s challenges under President William Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.
According to Kufuor, the government had a strong start, particularly in handling the Covid-19 pandemic.
However, he believes some post-pandemic decisions, hampered the government’s efforts to please the citizenry.
He cited the National Cathedral project as part of the unpopular decisions that hurt the government’s standing.
In a TV interview with Deloris Frimpong Manso on her Delay Show aired on TV3 on Saturday, December 6, 2025, President Kufuor said the Akufo-Addo leadership failed to leave a legacy for the NPP to campaign on in 2024, unlike 2016 when they leveraged his (Kufuor’s) legacy to win power.
“Look at the things the NPP used to campaign to come to power in 2017. During the campaign in 2016, they were saying ‘Kufuor has done this, Kufuor has done that’.”
He explained that although government land was used for the National Cathedral project, it was marketed as a private project but ended up draining state resources, and to make matters worse, couldn’t be completed.
“From the beginning, it was going well. Then the Covid came and I’ll say Akufo-Addo managed it well. But after that, some of the things, if I tell you I understood them, I’ll be a liar. Like the cathedral; the way it started and how it all ended.
“They preached it as a private entity although it was given a government land, some bungalows were pulled down and all.”
When asked by the host, his thoughts at the time he heard of the decision to put up the cathedral, President Kufuor said “I was not even consulted.”
He also cited the Power Distribution Services (PDS) deal with the Electricity Company of Ghana (ECG) as one of the government decisions under President Akufo-Addo’s tenure, which was not understandable to him.
The former president revealed he was kept in the dark on several key government initiatives, despite his status within the NPP.
On the performance of the two NPP administrations, Kufuor reiterated that his performance gave the party the landslide victory in 2016, whereas the Akufo-Addo government’s performance ended up with the hang parliament Ghanaians saw in 2024.
“In a way, that tells us that you can’t take the Ghanaian electorates for granted,” he stated.
Anane was one of the very best Ministers who served under my govt – Kufuor
