The Asantehene Otumfuo Osei Tutu II has revealed the hidden circumstances that led to Ghana’s former President John Agyekum Kufuor being confined to a wheelchair.
According to the king of the Ashanti Kingdom, the former president failed to prioritize his health after he survived an accident on his way to the castle while he was president.
He detailed that former president John Agyekum Kufuor decided to put the country above himself when he had the accident despite his advice to him not to overwork.
Speaking at a dinner in Ransford in the United Kingdom (UK), Otumfuo said;
“He cannot walk and I said to him that it was his own fault. He had an accident on his way to the Castle, he was safe and went to the 37 military hospital and returned to the Presidency to work. I called him from Kumasi and he said [I’m in the office].
I asked what are you doing there, Ofa (Uncle)? and he said [I’m okay, nothing happened to me I’m fine]. I told him Ofa (Uncle) you better go home and rest. And I told him Ghana will still be there if you die. But he stayed in the office till 4pm before he left the office. This is the amount of sacrifice he had for Ghana,” starfmonline.com quoted Otumfuo as having said.
On November 14, 2007, former Ghanaian President John Agyekum Kufuor, also then Chairman of the African Union, escaped unhurt when a private car crashed into his vehicle, rolling it over several times.
‘The car finally rested on the sidewalk and the people around helped his security men to pull him out. The president came out holding his head’, an eyewitness said.
A man using a Mercedes Benz, ignored the siren of the presidential convoy and drove straight into Kufuor’s vehicle at the Opeibea House traffic light Intersection on the Airport – 37 Military Hospital road.
The man who caused the accident was put before a Motor Court in Accra and charged with four counts of dangerous driving, negligently causing harm, driving under the influence of alcohol and failing to give way to the presidential convoy.
Investigations further revealed that the accused was under the influence of alcohol at the time of the accident, and when tested with an Alco Sensor III, his alcohol level read 0.41% instead of the legal limit of 0.08%.
It was alleged that the accused person admitted to taking at least one bottle of alcoholic beverage before the incident.