The Deputy National Organizer of the ruling National Democratic Congress, Mr. Yaw Boateng Gyan has expressed his displeasure at organizers of the Mo Ibrahim Award for refusing to select ex-President Kufuor as winner of the $5m dollar coveted award.
According to Mr. Boateng Gyan, he is at a loss as to why the award committee failed to choose a winner for this year’s ceremony, when it was clear that ex-President Kufuor was the obvious choice for the African leadership award, which has been described as the largest individual award in the world.
“In fact, I am shocked at the revelation that the award committee could not find a suitable winner among the possible candidate. I know ex-President Kufuor was the best among all of them.” Mr. Boateng Gyan told the host of Angel Fm’s Morning Show host, Mr. Kwame Adinkrah, in an interview in Kumasi.
According to the Deputy National Organizer of the ruling party, the award committee had no justification for not bestowing the award on Ghana’s former President, indicating that Mr. Kufuor was the most outstanding and deserving candidate, considering Ghana’s democratic credentials and achievements over the past years. Mr. Boateng Gyan noted that the award would not have benefited ex-President Kufuor alone, but would have also boosted the image of Ghana as a country and our democratic practice. He described the situation as unfortunate, but said he would not blame the committee for their action, even though he believes they have been fair to the country’s former President.
Admirers of former President John Agyekum Kufuor, continue to gnash their teeth and express disappointment in the organizers of the Mo Ibrahim Award, for refusing to select the immediate past President of Ghana as the winner of the $5m dollar African leadership award.
Ghana’s ex-President, John Agyekum Kufuor, was nominated alongside three ex-African leaders including South Africa’s Thabo Mbeki and Nigeria’s former Head of State, Mr. Olusegun Obasanjo, as contenders for the award instituted by the Sudanese Business tycoon, Mr. Mo Ibrahim, which rewards democratically elected former Presidents from sub-Saharan African countries, who have left office in the past three years and still recognizes good governance.
Hopes of many Ghanaians were high before last Monday that the much-popular African award would go to Ghana’s former President Kufuor, but the award committee, which include eminent global personalities announced last Monday at London city Hall that it was unable to select a winner for this year’s award, giving no apparent reason for their decision.
