10 things to know about Presidential Candidate Nana Akufo-Addo
- henrydjan
- Feb 18, 2016
- 2 min read
Born 29 March 1944 in Swalaba, Accra, Nana was raised in Ga Maami - the heart of Accra - and in Nima. His father’s Accra residence, Betty House at Korle Wokon, became the de facto headquarters of the country’s first political party, the United Gold Coast Convention (UGCC), after it was founded at Saltpond in 1957.
Nana was educated at the University of Ghana - BSc Economics 1967, called to the English Bar - Middle Temple in 1971 and to the Ghanaian Bar in 1975.
In 1979 co-founded the law firm Akufo-Addo, Prempeh & Co, which has become one of the most prominent law firms in Ghana. Some Ghanaian lawyers who passed through his law firm are among the most outstanding lawyers at the Ghanaian Bar today. They include Sophia Akuffo, Justice of the Supreme Court, Joyce Darko, Daniel Afari Yeboah, Philip Addison, Joe Ghartey, a former Attorney General and Minister for Justice, Alex Quaynor, among others.
Akufo-Addo has served on the boards and committees of a number of political, legal, and social organizations in the country. He was the first Chairperson of DHL, Ghana Limited; Chairperson, Kinesec Communications Company Limited, publishers of The Statesman and the first Chairperson of the Ghana Committee on Human and Peoples' Rights.
Nana Addo was elected three times as Member of Parliament for the Abuakwa South constituency in the Eastern Region of Ghana in 1996, 2000 and 2004.
Between 2001 and 2007, he served Ghana with distinction as Cabinet minister, first as Attorney General and Minister for Justice, and then as Foreign Minister, a position he held for five years.
As Attorney General, he fought against the criminal libel law in Ghana whcih was used to intimidate and silence the media. . The repeal has enabled the Ghanaian media to become one of the freest and most vibrant in Africa.
Nana was elected Flagbearer of the NPP in 2007. Having won the first round of the General Election of 2008, he lost the run-off by a margin of 40,586 votes – 0.46% of the total – the smallest ever in African political history. Nana Addo’s acceptance of this verdict cemented his reputation as a statesman with pedigree and he was lauded locally and internationally for preserving Ghana’s peace and maintaining Ghana’s status as the beacon of democracy in Africa.
Nana Addo is passionate about the economic transformation of Ghana. He believes Ghana has the natural resources and human resources with which it can accelerate its development.
A believer in the yotuh of Ghana, he believes that we have to be provide youth with opportunities to enable them contribute their quota to Ghana’s development.
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