Deputy Chief Executive Officer of the Forestry Commission of Ghana, Elikem Kotoko, says former President John Agyekum Kufuor failed an integrity test and effectively indicted himself through comments he made in a recent media interview.
According to him, the former president’s remarks revealed contradictions that raised concerns about his honesty and loyalty to national interest over the interests of his party, the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
Former President John Agyekum Kufuor, in an interview on “The Delay Show” on December 6 made several critical points regarding the performance of the Akufo-Addo administration, the NPP’s recent election defeat, and the future of the party.
Speaking on TV3 and monitored by NewsDesksGH on Monday 8th December, Elikem said he felt sad after watching the interview.
“He demonstrated in that interview that he, President Kufuor also failed the integrity test very woefully.”
He pointed to President Kufuor’s admission that he did not fully understand what was happening in government after the COVID-19 period, despite actively campaigning for the New Patriotic Party.
“He mentioned that after Covid he never knew what was going on. You didn’t know what was going on, but you were mounting platforms, campaigning.”
Kotoko described this as a clear case of dishonesty and partisanship.
“That is dishonesty. That means the party comes first before the nation? He was placing his party’s interest before the country. That is the highest form of dishonesty and I think he failed the integrity test as a statement.”
He also referenced comments suggesting the former president was sidelined from key government decisions.
“There were times he made it clear that he was not consulted in this, was not consulted in that. And it meant you were not involved. They didn’t need you.”
“When I saw that interview yesterday I felt very embarrassed that at best he would not have even said those things at all. Because he was indicting himself,” he added.
He questioned why President Kufuor would publicly support a leadership he claimed not to understand.
“He knew what President Akufo-Addo and Bawumia were doing was something he couldn’t make head or tail of, yet you were mounting platforms saying ‘Ghanaians please vote for this’.”
Elikem Kotoko claimed that the former president was merely being used by the party leadership at the time, rather than being a necessary figure in key decisions.
