John
Kufuor

John Kufuor served as president of Ghana from 2001 to 2009 and as chairperson of the African Union from 2007 to 2008. His victory marked the first peaceful democratic transition of power in Ghana since the country’s independence in 1957.
President Kufuor’s public service spans more than 40 years. In 1967, he was appointed chief legal officer and town clerk of Kumasi, Ghana’s second-largest city. He was a member of the Constituent Assemblies, which drafted Ghana’s republican constitutions in 1969 and 1979. He was twice elected as a Member of Parliament, during the Second and Third Republics. He also served as deputy minister of foreign affairs, leading Ghana’s delegation to the United Nations General Assembly in New York, the Organization of African Unity (OAU) ministerial meetings in Addis Ababa and the Summit Conference of the Non-Aligned Movement in Lusaka. He was later appointed to a role as minister for local government.

In 1996 President Kufuor was elected chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) and led the party to victories in 2000 and 2004. He succeeded in gaining much international support for Ghana , as he played a key role in improving social services and infrastructure, encouraging private-sector development, and brokering peace in other African states. Under his presidency, Ghana was awarded a record $500-million grant from the U.S Millennium Challenge Account for economic development.

President Kufuor was the first to submit his country to peer review under NEPAD (New Partnership for Africa’s Development) and in 2004 was spokesperson for the six African leaders who attended a G8 summit in Georgia.

President Kufuor studied law at Oxford University and earned a master’s degree in philosophy, political science and economics.