In a recent poll conducted by GhanaWeb, Ghana’s first President, Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah, has emerged as the most popular president in the country’s history.
The poll, conducted from Thursday, July 11, 2024, to Sunday, July 14, 2024, drew participation from approximately 17,000 readers of GhanaWeb.
The poll was prompted by remarks made by Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh (popularly known as NAPO), the vice-presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), who asserted that the current President of Ghana, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has outperformed all past presidents, including Dr. Kwame Nkrumah.
Out of the respondents, over 60%—representing more than 10,000 participants—voted Dr. Kwame Nkrumah as the best president in Ghana’s history.
His legacy as the country’s founding father and his role in leading Ghana to independence clearly resonated with the majority of voters.
Former President John Dramani Mahama, the current flagbearer of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), secured the second position in the poll with over 14% of respondents (2,421 participants) recognizing him as the second best president.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, who NAPO suggested had surpassed Nkrumah in achievements, placed third in the poll with 1,964 participants, amounting to nearly 12% of respondents endorsing him as the third best president.
Former presidents John Agyekum Kufuor and Jerry John Rawlings followed in the fourth and fifth positions respectively, with Kufuor garnering over 8% of the vote and Rawlings receiving nearly 3%.
The late Prof. John Evans Atta Mills, who served as president from 2009 until his untimely death in 2012, ranked sixth in the poll with nearly 2% of respondents affirming his legacy.
Dr. Hilla Limann, who served briefly as president from 1979 to 1981, rounded out the poll in seventh place, receiving less than 1% of the votes.
The results underscore a strong sentiment among participants for Nkrumah’s pivotal role in Ghana’s history, despite differing views expressed by some political figures regarding contemporary achievements.
Meanwhile, the Chiefs of the Nzema Traditional Area have called on Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh to make his way to Nzema and apologise for the comparison between the late Nkrumah and Akufo-Addo after his recent apology communicated in a statement.