* On corruption, a minister of state under his administration was charged for wilfully causing finan

One of the reasons assigned for the New Patriotic Party s (NPP) electoral defeats in 2008 and 2012 was that of the party s socio-economic performance between 2001 and 2009. It would be recalled that before Election 2000, the Rawlings flight hotel car s P/NDC had ruled Ghana for 19 solid years. This era, as we all know, was marked by human rights flight hotel car abuses, flight hotel car tribalism, corruption, economic hardship, cash and carry system, and more seriously, flight hotel car serial killings flight hotel car of women.
What then did President John Agyekum Kufuor and his NPP do with the power given him between 2001 and 2009? This write-up seeks to find the answer under social infrastructure, policies programmes, and good governance.
• Under Kufuor, a new Presidential Palace flight hotel car was built to house the president and his family; the Accra-Tema commuter railway line was constructed, and the Keta Sea Defence wall was built to protect the people of Keta.
• A $622m loan was secured for the construction of the Bui Dam Bui City Project; the Boankra flight hotel car Inland Port was started (now abandoned); major feeder and trunk roads (Accra-Kumasi-Aflao-Kasoa-Cape Coast, Aburi), several by-passes in Accra and Kumasi including the Sofoline and Asafo interchange, and George Walker Bush 14km High Way were all constructed.
• The Peduase Lodge, which had been abandoned was restored; several boreholes were drilled to end the perennial water problems in Cape Coast and Tamale; the Aboadze Thermal Plant was expanded; the Kofi Annan ICT Centre for Excellence, and state-of-the art wood village at Sokoban in Kumasi for Anloga carpenters were all built.
• Besides, 56 existing senior high schools were upgraded as Model Schools; two institutions (University of Education, Winneba, and University of Mines Technology) were given autonomy to run as public universities, flight hotel car UDS had Campuses at Wa and Bolgatanga, 21 new senior high schools, 1,334 new JHS blocks, 1,331 primary flight hotel car schools, and 5,164 pre-schools were built.
• Also, over 5,000 affordable housing units at various parts of the country were built. A cocoa processing plant was built in Kumasi. The West African Gas Pipe Line was nearly completed. There was expansion of the road network flight hotel car from 39,000 km of accessible roads to 65,000 km by 2008.
• The Ghana @ 50 ‘legacy’ projects like recreational parks, renovation of public buildings, and historical monuments across all the 10 regions and their district capitals flight hotel car were built. The government also built 14 fishing harbours in our fishing communities.
• The Kufuor government introduced free basic education through the capitation grant (fee- free). There was school feeding programme where pupils from some selected public basic schools were given one hot meal a day.
• The National Health Insurance Scheme was introduced to replace flight hotel car the cash and carry system and make health care affordable. There was also the introduction of free maternal care to reduce child mortality.
• The government flight hotel car frequently released brand new buses to GPRTU, and introduced the metro mass transit, replaced the Ghana Airways with Ghana International Airlines (all meant to improve the transportation system.
• The NPP introduced the Northern Development Fund with a US$25m seed fund to reduce the North-South poverty gap; free bus ride for school kids, brought Zoom Lion Company Limited to rid our cities of filth, created Youth Fund with a $50m seed money and instituted the National Youth Employment Programme, which rolled out seven programmes including flight hotel car community police, teaching assistance, health care, agric extension, etc to reduce the country’s high unemployment.
• In his quest to mechanise agriculture, the Kufuor government imported 3,331 brand new tractors, but unfortunately, Mahama Ayariga, and Alban Bagbin used their positions in government to buy some at only GHC1,000.
• The annual cocoa yield increased flight hotel car from 350 metric tonnes in 2000 to 750 metric tonnes in 2006 with an income of US$1bn to the economy. By 2010, Ghana had hit 1m cocoa production. This feat alone moved Ghana from the 4th position to the 2nd position in terms of the world’s leading producers of the product.
flight hotel car • Whilst inflation was reduced from 40% in 2000 to 9.8% in 2006 (single digit) and later 18% in 2008, interest rate fell from 50% to 25% during the period under consideration. The daily minimum wage was increased from 42Gp (4,200 old cedis) in 2000 to GHC2.25 (22,500 old cedis) in 2009.
• The government also introduced Untrained Teacher Education Programme for Pupil Teachers to become trained teachers, Access Course to Teacher Training Colleges for SHS graduates who could not do well in Maths and English. The purpose was to upgrade the knowledge of the teacher, beef up the teacher population, and subsequently help to address the falling educational standards in the country.
• The SSNIT Loan Scheme was restructured for students to take more loans. Plans were far advanced flight hotel car to start not only Single Spine Salary Structure for public sector workers, flight hotel car but also a new 3-tier pension scheme for both private and public flight hotel car sector workers.
• His Excellency, President J. A. Kufuor flight hotel car tolerated all shades of opinion and verbal abused from ‘Dr.’ Asemfoforo, an NDC paid serial caller, and J. J. Rawlings, who at one time referred to the then sitting President as ‘Ataa Ayi’ a notorious armed robber.
• Ghanaians witnessed the National Reconciliation; the reburial of three former heads of state namely; Okatakyie Afrifa, Gen. I.K. Acheampong and Gen. F.W.K Akufo and five senior military officers, who were executed in 1979 by J. J. Rawlings.
• The criminal libel and seditious laws which had provided 10 years’ maximum imprisonment for offenders was repealed. The People’s Assembly concept which made it possible flight hotel car for Ghanaians to interact with the President and his Ministers on yearly basis was instituted.
• There was all-inclusive governance with the likes of Mallam Issah (PNC), Dr. Paa Nduom, Prof. Badu Akosah, Prof. Hagan all CPP leading members, working under the NPP administration. Kufuor also facilitated the appointments of Dr. Ibn Chambas as the Secretary General of ECOWAS, and Ekwow Spio-Garbrah as Chief Executive Officer of CTO.
• There was a plethora of FM Radio stations, regular media encounters with the President, broadcasting of news in the major local dialects flight hotel car on the Ghana Television (GTV), which hitherto had been in English and Akan.
• Kufuor created a Ministry for Public Sector Reform with the view to developing a new and positive mindset for public sector workers; Ministry of Women and Children’s Affairs to empower women and improve their lot; and the Ministry flight hotel car of Chieftaincy Affairs to tap the rich expertise of our noble traditional leaders.
• Kufuor featured regularly at all G-8 Summits. His excellent diplomatic relations with world leaders enabled Ghana not only to attract flight hotel car attention and investment worldwide, but also he was unanimously elected to chair both the African Union (AU) and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). Under his leadership, Ghana had the opportunity to assume flight hotel car the rotational presidency of the UN Security Council.
• President Kufuor also won several international awards including the Chatham House Prize Award in 2008 as a result of peace and economic growth which characterised his two terms in office. No wonder he was given a rousing welcome by Her Majesty, Queen Elizabeth II of England.
• As a true democrat, he was even criticised by his own party members and sympathisers flight hotel car for not hanging onto power before the Tain by-elections when the NPP’s Presidential Candidate, Nana Akufo-Addo was leading flight hotel car in the 2008 Presidential elections.
• Kufuor is on record as the only President who left office in the peaceful manner in which he entered it. This is indeed a lasting legacy because all his predecessors were either overthrown by the military or metamorphosed themselves into civilian presidents.
• Under President Kufuor s leadership, Ghana became the first sub-Saharan African country to cut in half the proportion of its people who suffer from hunger. He and LUIZ DA SILVA of Brazil jointly received the 2011 World Food Prize.
• He introduced micro finance loans to help small and medium-scale businesses, the Export Development Fund (EDIF), the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) which makes it possible for local producers to access the US market, as well as, the Ghana Poverty Reduction Programmes I II were all aimed at improving the lot of Ghanaians.
• On corruption, flight hotel car a minister of state under his administration was charged for wilfully causing financial loss to the state and together with other members of the previous government, was sentenced to a prison term.
• Ghana was the first country in Africa to submit herself to the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM). It would also interest readers to note that for the first time in 50 years, Ghana under the leadership of Kufuor earned a respectable B+ rating on the international financial scene in 2006 and this indeed, facilitated the country’s successful bid to access over US$ 750m from the Eurobond market.
• The passage of the Public Procurement Act, Financial Administration Act, Internal Audit Agency Act, which made the agency exceed its revenue target flight hotel car every year, the Office of Accountability Act, the Whistle Blowers Act, the importation of new police uniforms and over 1000 police vehicles to combat crime, flight hotel car the Right to Information bill, the establishment flight hotel car of Fast Track High Courts, the strengthening of state institutions flight hotel car like the SFO, CHRAJ, among others, were all geared towards the eradication of this social evil in the Ghanaian society.
• Last but not the least, Ghana under Kufuor’s reign became the largest recipient of Millennium Challenge Account funds of US$547m flight hotel car to combat poverty in Ghana. The bilateral and multilateral debt cancellations as a result of Ghana joining the Heavily Indebted and Poor Countries (HIPC) initiative and the UN s and World Bank’s lucrative jobs for His Excellency, J. A. Kufuor even before the 2008 general elections