John Kofi Agyekum Kufuor (born 8 December 1938)[1] is a Ghanaian politiciana who served as the tenth president of Ghana from 2001 to 2009.

[6] The scion of a royal maternal lineage, John Kufuor was born in Daaban, a suburb of Kumasi in the Ashanti Region of Ghana.

In the Second Republic's Parliamentary register, Kufuor listed his hobbies and interests as table tennis, reading, football, and film shows.

From 1969 to December 1971, he led Ghana's delegation to the United Nations General Assembly in New York City, the Organization of African Unity (OAU) Ministerial Meetings in Addis Ababa, and the Summit Conference of the Non-Aligned Movement in Lusaka.

In 1970 he led the Ghanaian delegation to Moscow in the Soviet Union, Prague (Czechoslovakia), and Belgrade (Yugoslavia) to discuss Ghana's indebtedness to these countries.

As the Spokesman on Foreign Affairs and Deputy Opposition Leader of the Popular Front Party (PFP) Parliamentary Group during the Third Republic, he was invited to accompany President Hilla Limann to the OAU Summit Conference in Freetown, Sierra Leone.

He was also a member of the parliamentary delegation that visited the United States in 1981 to talk to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank on Ghana's economic problems.

In January 1982, the leadership of the All People's Party (APP), which was an alliance of all the opposition parties, advised some leading members, including the Deputy Leader of the Alliance, Alhaji Iddrisu Mahama, its general secretary, Dr Obed Asamoah and Kufuor, to accept an invitation from the Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC) to serve in what was purported to be a National Government.

[17] On 20 April 1996, Kufuor was nominated by 1034 out of 2000 delegates of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) drawn from all the 200 Constituencies of the Country to run for the president of Ghana on 10 December 1996.

When Kufuor was sworn in on 7 January 2001,[19] it marked the first time in Ghana's history that an incumbent government had peaceful transition of power to the opposition.

[21] His administration's domestic policy in the first term was marked by fiscal and monetary stringency on the economic front, aimed at stabilizing a national economy that stagnated and was in decline.

On the global stage, Kufuor actively sought the establishment of a just and equitable international social and economic order, while promoting and safeguarding the interests of Ghana through bilateral and multilateral agreements.

At the international level, Kufuor consolidated Ghana's position as the voice of Africa, credible peace broker, beacon of democracy (Ghana was the first country to undergo Peer Review under NEPAD's Africa Peer Review Mechanism) and responsible member of the committee of nations.

[28] Kufuor institutionalised the capitation grant for school children at the basic level, whereby each student was entitled to $2 for cultural sports and development.

For the first time in Ghana's history, borrowing became so cheap and available that microfinance companies (and major banks) actually went on to the streets to encourage small-scale businessmen and women to apply for loans.

[33] President Kufuor's good governance policy led to Ghana obtaining a record $500 million grant from the U.S Millennium Challenge Account for economic development.

[42] Kufuor is the Governing Council Chairman of Interpeace, an international peace building organisation based in Geneva since October 2009.

[43] Kufuor was chosen together with Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva to jointly receive the 2011 World Food Prize for their personal commitment and visionary leadership while serving as the presidents of Ghana and of Brazil, respectively, in creating and implementing government policies to alleviate hunger and poverty in their countries.

The foundation said the significant achievements of these two Laureates illustrate that transformational leadership truly can effect positive change and greatly improve people's lives.

The inaugural lecture, which attracted very high local and foreign dignitaries, had Horst Köhler, former president of Germany, as its guest speaker.

Thabo Mbeki, former president of South Africa, and Ghana ex-president Jerry John Rawlings, Kufuor's fiercest critic, were among the dignitaries who attended the ceremony.