Franklin Cudjoe, the founder and President of Policy Think Tank, IMANI Africa, has revealed that they wrote off the New Patriotic Party (NPP) in 2022.
The IMANI President explained that they knew the NPP government under Akufo-Addo was going to tank.
According to Franklin Cudjoe, from 2020, they saw the writing on the wall and told Mr President that he needed to rein in some of the people who are making his government unpopular.
The IMANI President added that former President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo was a president who didn’t listen to good counsel.
According to Franklin Cudjoe, when Akufo-Addo became president, he sought the brain of his think tank on policy matters, but at a point, they realised he was not listening to their advice.
Speaking in an interview with Accra-based Starr FM, Franklin Cudjoe stated, “When he became President, he used to call us, and we had conversations, but at a point I realised that if you advise this man, he doesn’t seem to be listening.
From 2020, we saw the writing on the wall, and we said, Mr President, you need to rein in some of the people who are making your government unpopular. There are things that you don’t want to be seen supporting. He used some term in public that some of the CSOs they come and see me, they complain, and when you go and look at the thing, it is a dump street”.
Franklin Cudjoe said he and his colleagues withdrew from providing counsel for Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo because they knew “this ship was going to tank in. I remember telling my good friend Gabby that we wrote them off in 2022. We actually saw it in 2019. The splurging, the fastest route to the bottom, was the money spent on one village, one dam. Our friends who got contracts had never worked before”.
Also, former President John Agyekum Kufuor last year voiced his disappointment and frustration with the Akufo-Addo-led New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration.
According to Kufuor, Akufo-Addo rode on his achievements to win power, but caused the NPP’s defeat in the 2024 elections with his policies.
John Agyekum Kufuor highlighted that the Akufo-Addo government started promising in 2016, but after the COVID-19 pandemic, the government performed poorly.
According to John Agyekum Kufuor, the Akufo-Addo government, after COVID, was doing things he did not understand.
He revealed that the Akufo-Addo-led New Patriotic Party (NPP) administration. Implemented policies like the Domestic Debt Exchange Programme (DDEP), National Cathedral project and Power Distribution Services deal, which contributed significantly to the New Patriotic Party’s defeat in the 2024 elections.
Speaking in an interview with Deloris Frimpong Manso, shared on X on December 6, 2025, former President Kufuor explained, “Before the 2016 election in which Akufo-Addo was elected, the campaign was built on my achievements”.
“Those achievements played a key role in his victory. The government started on a good note, but things changed after he assumed power.”
During the 2016 election, they rode on my achievements to win power, but after they came into government, things changed… They started very well, but when COVID-19 came, things began to shift. I will commend him for how he handled the COVID-19 pandemic, but afterwards, I didn’t understand many of the things they were doing.
Things like the bond market and the National Cathedral… They didn’t consult me. All I knew was that they were building it. I initially thought it was a private initiative, only to later realise they were using government resources. They even demolished the judges’ building for it, and yet they still couldn’t complete it. Also, with the PDS”, he said.
Former President John Agyekum Kufuor further touched on the NPP defeat in the 2024 election, “In 2016, we won the election with a landslide victory. In the 2020 elections, there were tensions which led to a hung parliament; the president got a majority, but it was a reduced majority. Then four years later, it should be that you cannot take the Ghanaian electorate for granted”.
Watch the video below:
At a point, I realised that if you advise former Pres. Akufo-Addo, he doesn’t listen… – Franklin Cudjoe (CEO, IMANI Centre for Policy and Education) #StarrFM #StarrChat #GHOneTV #EIBNetwork #NewsAlert #GHOneNews pic.twitter.com/aX8oBTIW5X
— GHOne TV (@ghonetv) April 10, 2026