The Chairman of the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) Council of Elders, Hackman Owusu-Agyeman has expressed strong disapproval of recent comments made by Alan Kyerematen regarding former President John Agyekum Kufuor. 

Speaking in an interview with JoyNews on Monday, 25th November, Mr Owusu-Agyeman addressed what he described as disrespectful remarks by Mr Kyerematen.

The controversy follows Mr Kyerematen's criticism of Kufuor's endorsement of Dr Mahamudu Bawumia for the 2024 general elections. 

In his criticism, Mr Kyerematen questioned how long former President Kufuor had known Dr Bawumia to be supporting him. He also said that as a statesman, it was inappropriate for Mr Kufuor to take sides going into the polls.

This remark has sparked considerable debate, leading to Mr Owusu-Agyeman’s intervention.

Mr Owusu-Agyeman firmly rebuked Mr Kyerematen, highlighting the significant contributions former President Kufuor has made to Kyerematen’s political career. 

He emphasized that Kufuor’s support for Bawumia should not be a point of contention, especially from someone who has benefited immensely from the former president’s leadership and mentorship.

Mr Owusu-Agyeman stressed that Mr Kyerematen’s criticism of Kufuor was both unwarranted and rude. 

“What President Kufuor has done for Mr Kyerematen, I don't think he has done it for anybody in this party and I don't think it's Mr Kyerematen who says 70% of what President Kufuor had to do came from him. Where was he? I can tell you that as Foreign Minister he was my ambassador to Washington and one of the biggest things we did was HIPC. When we were taking that decision, the people who were there were Present Kufuor, J.H Mensah, Osafo Marfo, Baros Amos and myself and Ambassador Boris Chalker of the UK and it was President Kufuor who decided that we should go for it and it yielded the results.

“And so if you sit in Washington and say that you gave the idea, I don't get it. When I came back from the UN, I did nothing but work for the party. The Constitution was written in my house and our first manifesto was written in my house. So I did nothing but work for the party.”

“For example, I thought I had the capacity to be the flagbearer for the party but I don't have the capacity now because what was needed at the time is different from this digital age with AI and all. So if at that time, President Kufuor thought that Mr Kyerematen was the person for the moment, and he moved on after 20 years and he believes that this is the time to move forward and so it is somebody else to do...but to ask what has Bawumia done is the height of impunity and it was rude,” he stated.