Be kingmakers in December polls – Kufuor tells youth

Former President John Agyekum Kufuor has urged Ghana’s youth to actively partake in the December election to drive the needed development and advancement.

The former president said the youth’s involvement in the country’s electoral processes will help shape the country’s future.

Speaking at the launch of the Kufuor Scholars Foundation, a voter campaign aimed at improving youth participation in the December polls, John Kufour said the youth must see themselves as king-makers.

“Ghana alone has about 30 million citizens and with your learning and mature brain power throughout our societies, if you would do what you should do as responsible citizens to try to give the nation good leadership, inclusive leadership, if you would do that, then I tell you, within a few years you will see Ghana turning around to really be coming up, to be emulated on the continent of Africa to better the lot of humanity.”

In the 2020 elections over 17 million Ghanaians of voting age registered to vote but only 13 million people turned up to vote.

Concerns of voter apathy, economic hardship and misgovernance are emerging as reasons why these individuals may have failed to vote.

The situation has been revealed to be more critical in the upcoming December 7 election, as a survey conducted by the Kufuor Scholars Foundation on voter interest revealed that 43 percent of every 1,000 Ghanaians plan not to vote.

Given the urgency, the Kufuor Scholars Programme under the John Agyekum Kufuor Foundation has partnered with the National Commission for Civic Education to launch a voter campaign exercise aimed at heightening education and awareness on voting during elections.

The former President speaking at the event added “Having over 70% of the youth population means that, you will be unstoppable if you become committed to doing what is right.”

Several personalities attended the launch including Prof Agyemang Baffuor Duah, CEO of JAK Foundation; H.E. Harriet Thompson, British High Commissioner to Ghana; Dr Pascal Brenya, KSP Coordinator; Nana Ama Oppong Duah, Policy Advisor at the JAK Foundation; and Irene Horsham (Esq), Rector, Mountcrest University.