1. John Kofi Agyekum Kufuor was born on 8 December 1938 and is a Ghanaian politician who served as the tenth president of Ghana from 2001 to 2009.
40 Facts About John Kufuor
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John Kufuor was the fifth chairperson of the African Union from 2007 to 2008 and his victory over John Atta Mills at the end of Jerry Rawlings' second term marked the first transition of power in Ghana from a democratic party to another democratic party.
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The scion of a royal maternal lineage, John Kufuor was born in Daaban, a suburb of Kumasi in the Ashanti Region of Ghana.
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John Kufuor started his primary and elementary school at the Kumasi Government School located in Asem built by Sir Gordon Guggisberg.
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John Kufuor was the 7th of 10 children of Nana Kwadwo Agyekum, an Asante and Nana Ama Dapaah, a Queen Mother.
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John Kufuor was initially employed at the Ghana Commercial Bank in London as a manager and legal officer.
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John Kufuor returned to Ghana in the year 1965 at the behest of his mother who wished him to practice in Africa.
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John Kufuor practiced in the Chambers of Victor Owusu with another lawyer, Owusu Yaw.
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John Kufuor was once the chairman of Kumasi Asante Kotoko Football Club.
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John Kufuor served as the Member of Parliament for Atwima Nwabiagya in the Second and Third Republics.
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John Kufuor is a founding member of the Progress Party which was established in Busia's house.
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John Kufuor was a member of the parliamentary delegation that visited the United States in 1981 to talk to the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank on Ghana's economic problems.
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In January 1982, the leadership of the All People's Party, which was an alliance of all the opposition parties, advised some leading members, including the Deputy Leader of the Alliance, Alhaji Iddrisu Mahama, its general secretary, Dr Obed Asamoah and John Kufuor, to accept an invitation from the Provisional National Defence Council to serve in what was purported to be a National Government.
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John Kufuor was appointed the Secretary for Local Government in this new government.
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On 20 April 1996, John Kufuor was nominated by 1034 out of 2000 delegates of the New Patriotic Party drawn from all the 200 Constituencies of the Country to run for the president of Ghana on 10 December 1996.
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When John Kufuor was sworn in on 7 January 2001, it marked the first time in Ghana's history that an incumbent government had peaceful transition of power to the opposition.
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John Kufuor's administration is said to have received the most financial assistance in the history of Ghana, due essentially to donors' distrust for the military governments before it, as well as those with some military connections.
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In 2007, due to the policy successes his administration accumulated, John Kufuor had his mandate renewed in 2004 and was sworn into office on 7 January 2005.
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At the international level, John Kufuor consolidated Ghana's position as the voice of Africa, credible peace broker, beacon of democracy and responsible member of the committee of nations.
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John Kufuor was succeeded by Jakaya Kikwete of Tanzania on 31 January 2008.
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John Kufuor was involved in a car accident during his presidency on 14 November 2007, in which another car collided with his, causing it to roll over several times.
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John Kufuor started the National Health Insurance Scheme to replace the existent cash-and-carry system; 11 million Ghanaians were registered under this scheme.
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John Kufuor set up the National Ambulance Service and built more than 205 hospitals and clinics.
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John Kufuor built a state-of-the-art emergency centre at the Komfo Anokye Teaching Hospital.
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John Kufuor introduced free maternal health care in public hospitals for all expectant mothers.
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John Kufuor changed the Senior Secondary School curriculum from three years to four years and renamed it Senior High School.
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John Kufuor started the model school senior high school concept, in which some deprived schools were upgraded to the level of some first-class senior high schools.
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John Kufuor renovated the Accra Sports Stadium and the Baba Yara Stadium as well as built the Essipong and Tamale stadiums in 2008 to host the CAN 2008.
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John Kufuor is a Senior Grand Warden of the United Grand Lodge of England Freemasons, and has openly professed his membership as a Freemason since being a young lawyer.
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John Kufuor was known for using his language whenever he was campaigning in his native Ashanti Region.
31.
In July 2009, John Kufuor became a member of the SNV Netherlands Development Organization International Advisory Board to contribute his expertise to the organization's poverty reduction work.
32.
In September 2009, John Kufuor spoke in the Netherlands at a Dutch government event to mark '60 years of development aid' at the invitation of Dutch Minister Bert Koenders, which was attended by nearly 2,000 people.
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John Kufuor argued for the importance of effective development assistance, pointing out that development aid helped Ghana enter the international capital market.
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John Kufuor is the Governing Council Chairman of Interpeace, an international peace building organisation based in Geneva since October 2009.
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John Kufuor was chosen together with Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva to jointly receive the 2011 World Food Prize for their personal commitment and visionary leadership while serving as the presidents of Ghana and of Brazil, respectively, in creating and implementing government policies to alleviate hunger and poverty in their countries.
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In October 2011, John Kufuor received the 2011 World Food Prize, along with President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva for his personal commitment and visionary leadership while serving as the president of Ghana, and in creating and implementing government policies to alleviate hunger and poverty in his country.
37.
Since November 2011, John Kufuor has been the first high-level chair of the Sanitation and Water for All partnership.
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John Kufuor explained that the party had allowed him to go because he was invited as an ex-President of Ghana and not as a Member of the NPP to the chagrin of the supporters.
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John Kufuor received serious criticism from Alan Kyerematen, who expressed his endorsement of Dr Bawumia has tarnished the impartiality expected of a former statesman.
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John Kufuor has received numerous awards, including the Face-of-Good-Governance Award, Chatham House Prize, the Climate Change Award, and the World Food Program's Global Ambassador Against Hunger.