John Agyekum Kufuor (John Kufuor)

Former President (2001-2008)

Date of Birth: 8/12/1938
Place of Birth: Kumasi, Ashanti Region

Married to Theresa Kufuor, five children

Education: Prempeh College, Ghana, 1954-58; Lincoln’s Inn, London, United Kingdom, 1959-61; MA in Philosophy, Politics and Economics, Exeter College, University of Oxford, UK, 1964.

Career: Chief Legal Officer and Town Clerk, Kumasi Metropolitan Assembly, Ghana, 1967-68; Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs, Progress Party, 1969-72; Spokesman on Foreign Affairs and Deputy Opposition, Popular Front Party, 1979-82; Secretary for Local Government, the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC), Government of Ghana, 1982; New Patriotic Party (NPP) Party Leader, 1996-2000; President of Ghana, 2001-07; Chairman, African Union, 2007-08.

Commentary: When Kufuor became President in 2001, he brought to an end the 18-year tenure of Former President Jerry Rawlings. During his time in office, he was praised for his efforts to build the country's economy. In 2006, for example, he negotiated a five-year US$547 million grant from the United States Millennium Challenge Corporation to combat poverty. 

When the new National Democratic Congress (NDC) government came into office in 2009, it discovered that the country was deeper in debt than previously thought, raising questions about the Kufuor administration's accountability. Allegations of corrupt oil deals between Texas-based Kosmos Energy and Ghanaian energy company, EO Group, implicated EO's founders and two of Kufuor's political allies, George Owusu and Kwame Bawuah Edusei.