Dr. Addo Kufuor is one of the most accomplished and respected politicians in Ghana, and he has recently been appointed the first Chancellor of the Kumasi Technical University. Hon Dr. Kwame Addo-Kufuor, a former Minister for Defence, and former acting Interior Minister, is a consultant physician and a former lecturer at the Department of Medicine at the
Read full articlehref='/GhanaHomePage/people/person.php?ID=3265'>Kwame Nkrumah University for Science and Technology, School of Medicine. He was a Physician specialist at the Kufuor Clinic, Kumasi.
He was educated at Achimota School, University of Cambridge, England, and University College Medical School Hospital, London. He was a postgraduate student, and a member of staff at the Middlesex Medical School Hospital, London. At Cambridge, Dr. Kwame Addo-Kufuor was elected secretary of the Medical Students Association of Jesus College of the University. He qualified in 1970 from the University of Cambridge with an MA (Cantab), Bachelor of Medicine, and Bachelor of surgery degrees. After house jobs at the West Suffolk General and St. Charles Hospitals, London, he returned in 1971 to work as a Medical officer in various rotation jobs at the Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital till 1973.
In the middle of 1973, he returned to the Middlesex Medical School Hospital, London as a postgraduate student in medicine and a member of staff. He passed the MRCP (UK) examination in 1975. In the same year, he was awarded Fellow, Royal Society of Tropical Medicine. Dr. Addo-Kufuor worked as Medical Registrar at the Old Church and St. Hillier's Hospital, both in South-East England before returning to Ghana to work as a physician at the Komfo Anokye Hospital, Kumasi.
Summary of some achievement
Physician and University Don
He taught at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology Medical school for years on a part-time basis without taking any stipend.
He was an Inspector of Examinations at the University of Ghana Medical School Department of Medicine, and a Member of the Court of Examiners responsible for assessing Foreign Trained Doctors wishing to practice in Ghana - by the Ghana Medical and Dental Council.
He is among a few physicians in Ghana who are fellows of the Royal College of Physicians (London).
He instituted a Prize for the overall best final year student in Medicine at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology – The Addo Kufuor Prize which is still very coveted by students.
Dr. Addo Kufuor was elected National President of the Ghana Medical Association from 1992 to 1995 (three times unopposed).
It was during the Presidency of Dr. Addo Kufuor that construction of the GMA headquarters at Korle-Bu was initiated, and he was honoured by his colleague doctors with a plague at the commissioning of the building in appreciation of his contribution.
Dr. Addo Kufuor as President of GMA represented doctors on the board of the University of Ghana Medical School and the Ghana Prisons Service Council. He also represented the association at meetings in South Africa, Nigeria, and United Kingdom.
In 1992, he was elected the representative for West Africa on the Executive Committee of the Confederation of African Medical Association and Societies (CAMAS) in Blantyre, Malawi.
Dr. Kwame Addo Kufuor founded the Kufuor clinic on Prempeh II street in Kumasi in 1978. The Kufuor Clinic was outstandingly successful for more than three decades when turned to politics.
He was awarded Gold Medal for distinguished medical practice by the Ghana Medical and Dental Council in 2006.
Politician and Member of Parliament for Manhyia – 1997 – 2008.
He is a founding member of the Popular Front Party (PFP), All People’s Party (A.P.P), the Danquah-Busia Club, and the NPP.
Dr. Addo Kufuor was also a member of the National Policy and Advisory Committee of the NPP; chairperson of the Health Committee of the party; member of the National Executive Council and the National Council of the Party.
As the chairperson of the NPP National Campaign on Health for the 2000 general elections, Dr. Addo Kufuor wrote the party’s health policy for the manifesto.
Dr. Addo Kufuor was elected unopposed as the NPP parliamentary candidate for Manhyia Constituency four times and entered parliament in 1997 after winning the 1996 parliamentary elections convincingly.
As MP for Manhyia, he got support from the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA), Swiss Embassy, European Union, the British High Commission, GETFund, Japanese Embassy, and Latter Day Saints to complete numerous projects for the constituents; water closet toilet facilities, school blocks, computers and accessories for schools, road rehabilitation, books and uniforms, and microcredit for women traders.
The Buokrom Estate in Kumasi, for the first time, was provided with a huge overhead water reservoir that considerably eased the water shortage for the residents.
The biggest project accomplished for the people of Manhyia during the tenure of Dr. Addo Kufuor was the Ash Town Community Centre. The centre has a library, computer lab, canteen, indoor games room, offices for the Manhyia Sub metro, a meeting hall seating 300 people, and a football field nearby.
He was the Ranking Member for Health. He was also a member of the House Committee, Committee on Selection, and Committee on Environment, Science, and Technology.
Cabinet Minister: Minister of Defence, and Acting Minister of Interior
Minister of Defence
Dr. Addo Kufuor was the guest speaker at the UN Conference on peace-keeping in Maputo, Mozambique in 2002 on the theme “Security and the New Partnership for Africa’s Development. During this conference, late President Nelson Mandela invited him to his home at Sandton, Johannesburg.
In May 2003, Dr. Addo Kufuor delivered the keynote address at the second Tswalu Dialogue at Tswalu. This was a conference attended by heads of state, cabinet ministers, leading academics, and influential journalists. The topic for the occasion was “Meeting the challenges of Democracy and Economic Development in Africa”. In attendance at the conference were President Yoweri Museveni of Uganda, Mr. F.W. de Klerk, former President of South Africa, Baroness Linda Chalker, British Minister, the US Assistance Secretary of State for Africa; many ambassadors, academics, and others.
Led the Ghana delegation to the 10th Anniversary celebration of the Rwandan Genocide in Kigali.
It was during the tenure of Dr. Addo Kufuor as the Minister of Defence that the second phase of the 37 Military hospital was constructed, and the hospital was elevated to a Post-Graduate Teaching Hospital. The project consists of Polyclinic, IT Centre, Physiotherapy Department, a Male Surgical Ward, Public Health Division, Out Patient Clinic for surgical Obstetrics and Gynecology, Ear Nose and Throat, Dermatology, and medical departments.
Other significant achievements of Dr. Addo Kufuor as a Minister of Defence are the construction of the New Burma Hall and Library, the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre, the Computer and Commercial Centre at Burma Camp, the Beijing Barracks, and the rehabilitation of the Nicholson Stadium.
It was during the tenure of Dr. Addo Kufuor that the Post-Graduate degree program was introduced at Armed Forces Staff and Command College.
Dr. Addo Kufuor introduced the “Armed Forces Open Day”. It was intended to thaw the cold relations between the military and civilians. During the Armed Forces Open Day, civilians were encouraged to visit the barracks, interact with the service personnel and have a look at some of the military hardware.
Another significant achievement of Dr. Addo Kufuor is the construction of the new office building for the Ministry of Defence. Like other building projects completed including the Kofi Annan Peacekeeping Centre, Computer Centre, Post-Graduate Medical School, and to some extent the imposing Burma Hall, the new Ministry Building was constructed with resources from outside the national budget.
Dr. Addo-Kufuor was adjudged both as Man of the Year and Minister of the Year by the Independent and the Spectator News Papers respectively in 2002.
Acting Minister of Interior
On April 18, 2002, he was directed by the President to act as the Minister of Interior in addition to his substantive Defence portfolio.
Dr. Addo Kufuor was influential in bringing peace to Dagbon at the early stages of the conflict as the Minister of Interior.
The establishment of the joint military-police patrol in Greater Accra and other parts of the country to combat the rampant armed robbery in 2002 happened during the tenure of Dr. Addo Kufuor.
He also led the implementation of measures to combat cocoa smuggling and initiated some major afforestation initiatives with government agencies and the private sector. A large forest plantation was successfully established at Michel Camp and other garrisons across the country through the afforestation initiative.
Dr. Addo Kufuor ordered the introduction of water closet toilets in some of our prisons to replace the toilet buckets and persuaded the Prison Service Council to increase the financial allocation made for meals for prisoners.
He also introduced educational facilities in some of the prisons for prisoners to prepare themselves for certificate examinations; including ICT training.
Recent achievements
Dr. Addo Kufuor was the Board Chairman For SSNIT from 2017 to 2020.
He was adjudged the Outstanding Board Chairman of the year 2019 at the 10th Entrepreneur and Corporate Executive Awards for Ghana.
Dr. Kwame Addo Kufuor
