How John Kofi Agyekum Kufuor used Northern NPP Chairmen and dumped them.
In the run-up to the Presidential Primaries of NPP in 1992, then candidate J. A. Kufuor embarked on a vigorous campaign in the North to get the support of the Chairmen. In fact most of the influential Chairmen were targeted. He succeeded in recruiting the three Regional Chairmen: the late Alhaji Abdul-Rahman COP (Northern Region), the late Alhaji Imoro Salifu (Upper East) and Alhaji Issahaku Abudulai (Upper West) on whose shoulders the NPP rested in the dark days of opposition. Other Chairmen in the Northern Region that Kufour recruited were Alhaji Sabonkudi (in charge of Mamprusi) Alhaji Muhamadu Abudulai (in charge of Nanumba) and Alhaji Mahama Salifu (in charge of Gonja).These were people who were highly respected in their various zones. Indeed at a time these Chairmen worked so hard for J.A. Kufour, he was a subject of ridicule for many Chairmen in his own back yard- the Ashanti Region.
These Chairmen galvanised all delegates from the North en-bloc for then candidate J. A Kufour in the 1992 Congress which he placed third after Professor Albert Adu Boahen and Safo Adu. The same story was repeated at the 1996 Congress which J. A. Kufour won but lost the General Elections to Jerry John Rawlings.
In 1998, the North was a no go area for Akufo-Addo and others who fiercely contested J. A. Kufour as NPP flag bearer. Even Alhaji Malik Alhassan who was the only Northerner among the lot was rejected Northerners. He got only six votes. I can dare say that J. A. Kufour always had the support about 90% of Northern Delegates because these Chairmen worked so hard. I vividly remember at the 1998 Congress of NPP, I supported Akufo-Addo and my father publicly rebuked me and even threatened to disown me for being disloyal to him.
J.A . Kufour might have studied the Northerner very well and effectively exploited how to get his support. It is never easy to influence the Northerner through financial and material gains alone. The Northerner believes in recognition and respect; he likes anyone who would not belittle and demean his customs and tradition including the food he eats; he would trust anyone who respects his ideas and thinking no matter how absurd they are and most importantly will only associate with people who allows him to speak his mind; the Northerner does not easily betray anyone he decides to support.
The story of how these Chairmen struggled, sacrificed their time and resources as well as their spirit to consolidate, advance and improve on the support base of J.A Kufour in the North is well known by party members.. Kufour told the Chairmen he loved Northerners. He backed this with actions by eating their food and drinking their water. He shook hands with them and hugged them. He listened to them and praised them for their wisdom. He slept in their rooms.
I clearly remember as a very young man in 1996, my father Alhaji Mahama Salifu invited me to his room to run an errand for him. I bumped into Kufour deeply sleeping on my father’s sofa. I was in later years told that was not the only time he slept with my father. My father would always organise prayers for Kufour in our Mosque amidst the slaughtering of sheep and cows. He would implore Mallams to pray for Kufour because according to him, Kufour would be the only one who would not forget his people and his district if he ever becomes President. My father sold many of his cows to finance the NPP in Bole and Gonjaland. He would move round all the Gonja constituencies lobbying support for Kufour and the NPP. His cargo trucks were used as campaign vans. In fact he worked so hard that some of his businesses collapsed.
God being so good. Kufour won the 2000 elections thereby keeping alive the hopes of these Chairmen in terms their own development and the development of their people and areas. This was not to be. Kufour disappointed them. Alhaji COP it was rumoured was in a big debt as the as the time he died and it took the efforts of his hardworking children to settle it. Alhaji Imoro Salifu of Upper East never benefitted from his toils before his death. Alhaji Issahaku Abudulai of Upper West suffered a humiliating removal from his position as Chaiman of NPP in the Upper West without the necessary support from Kufour. Alhaji Sabonkudi at a time left the PP out of frustration. He disclosed to people he will never forgive Kufour.
In the case of my father Alhaji Mahama Salifu, I always feel like wailing anytime I visit Bole to see this poor old man. He has suffered a deteriorating health condition resulting in blindness. He resigned as NPP Chairman for Bole-Bamboi in 2007 and has since been in-doors. It is surprising that Kufour whom Alhaji Mahama liked and fought so hard for has never bothered to enquire about him. Many people wonder why Kufour refused to at least assist this man to get good medical attention.
May I say that many of the Chairmen were not in politics to make money or get favours from Kufour but to fight for the development of their areas. Disillusionment with the NPP by these personalities actually cost the party. The NPP's fall from grass to grace is partly traceable to the way Kufour treated certain individuals in the party.
If the NPP is to return to power, it must first re-organize itself and also give its members who were fooled a good reason to continue to work for the party. Presently there is a perception that Kufour did not have the best interest of some key party members at heart. Secondly ex-President J. A. Kufour must apologise to many individual party members who are presently disillusioned and apathetic to the course of the NPP because they were wronged. A party which has lost the confidence of its prominent members and by large their extended families is a party without a future. I rest my case.
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