Kodua, Dame, Awuku, Hamid, Kumah, Napaga, Arhin .. — 15 NPP big names Akufo-Addo groomed from their 20s Pt 1

President Akufo-Addo has groomed hundreds of young politicians and lawyers who are now men and women on their own with some serving within and outside his government. MyNewsGh.com brings readers part 1 of 15 young men and women who are now big people after passing ththrougAkufo-Addo’s hand.

Two days ago, newly-elected General Secretary of the New Patriotic Party, Justin Frimpong Kodua (JFK) revealed the role President Akufo-Addo played in his decision to become a lawyer 13 years ago when he was just 26 years of age in 2009.

By 2013, he had become a lawyer and was called to the Ghana Bar.

According to JFK, it was the President who told him to read law if his ambition is to be a politician and the President, then a defeated candidate paid his first-year law fees at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology KNUST.

“I remember Akufo-Addo to me, ‘Young man, you are very eloquent and I will like you to be part of the young people I will groom in the party’,” JFK recalled.

JFK said when Hemet Akufo-Addo after the 2008 defeat to Atta Mills; “Immediately he [Nana Addo] saw me, he said ‘Kodua, we lost the elections. Now we are both unemployed’. And we all just laughed,” JFK said. Akufo-Addo thrn asked him what he wanted to do.

“I was very honest with him, I told him I wanted to pursue politics as a career. So he advised me then – that was 2009 – that if I am interested in politics and it is something I want to do as a full-time job why don’t I go to law school. For that one, you have a backup profession and you don’t need to rely on someone to give you employment.

“You know, the moment you get into politics, you are ‘tainted’ and if you are not careful and your government loses elections, people will be uncomfortable employing you but if you are a lawyer, you can be self-employed,” he said on Joy News File.

Abu Jinapor v JFK

At the same time Akufo-Addo was advising JFK, he was also advising Abu Jinapor. He adopted Jinapor as a campaign Aide in 2007. Following the 2008 defeat, candidate Akufo-Addo reportedly him to go back to school after his first degree.

Since then, Samuel Abu Jinapor became a qualified Barrister and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Ghana in 2012, a year before JFK. He graduated from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Kumasi, with a Bachelor of Science degree in Physics, and specialised in Biomedical Physics in 2004.

As a newly enrolled lawyer, Akufo-Addo allegedly placed him with his former Mentee Yoni Kulendi at [email protected] Law, a top commercial and corporate law firm in Accra. He was at [email protected] from October 2012 to August 2013 for pupilage under Yoni Kulendi, who is now a Justice of the Supreme Court of Ghana. After the 2012 defeat and the 2013 court case, Akufo-Addo reportedly paid for Jinapor to go for a Master’s Degree in Law (LL.M) in Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) from the Faculty of Law, University of Ghana to keep him closer for the 2016 campaign.

Akufo-Addo appointed Jinapor as Deputy Chief of Staff in 2017 and in 2021 as Minister of Lands and Natural Resources.

Godfred Dame

Godfred Dame was mentored by Akufo-Addo from 1998 until 2003 when he became a lawyer and was adopted by Akufo-Addo into his Chambers, Akufo-Addo, Prempeh and Co.

At the time, Akufo-Addo’s firm was considered the most elite law firm in Ghana, specializing in various aspects of civil litigation.

Born on 5th June, 1979, Godfred Yeboah Dame obtained his GCE Ordinary Level and Advanced Level Certificates from Adisadel College between 1989 and 1996. He graduated with a Bachelor of Laws degree (LLB) in 2001. He proceeded to the Ghana School of Law from where he obtained his professional law qualification in October 2003.

Godfred Yeboah Dame rapidly and firmly established himself as one of Ghana’s leading advocates, conducting with a remarkable degree of success many of the politically important trials and constitutional cases in the Superior Courts of Ghana. He is currently serving as Attorney General. He has lectured at the Ghaa School of Law and was active in the legal department of Ghana Football Association when NPP was in opposition.

John Kumah

Like JFK and Jinapor, John Kumah became a lawyer in 2013 after the New Patriotic party’s 2008 defeat. He was also urged to go to the Law School by candidate Akufo-Addo according to sources. It is not clear if Akufo-Addo also paid for him like he did for JFK and Jinapor and Mustapha Abdul Hamid.

He started from the University of Ghana, where he earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics with Philosophy, and later enrolled in 2009 to get a Bachelor of Art Degree (Law) LLB in 2011 and a Professional Law Certificate from the Ghana School of Law in 2013. He was admitted to the Ghana Bar in 2013 with Justin Kodua.

John Kumah came to the limelight more for his constant criticism of the Atta Mills Administration at the time he was a law student and accused late Mills of being allegedly engaged in homosexual acts with one of the Ahwois for which he was arrested. His popularity soared since. He was with Akufo-Addo camp since 2008.

Akufo-Addo appointed him Chief Executive Officer for the National Entrepreneurship and Innovation Programme (NEIP) in 2017 and Deputy Finance Minister in 2021 ahead of Kojo Oppong Nkrumah who literally wept for the position.

Mustapha Abdul Hamid

Akufo-Addo reportedly ordered Dr. Mustapha Abdul Hamid to go back to school after the 2012 election defeat. Dr. Hamid has been with Akufo-Addo since at least 2007.

Abdul Hamid went to enrol for a PhD at his Alma Mater UCC and Graduated in early 2017 with a PhD while serving as an Information Minister after Akufo-Addo won the 2016 election.

On July 1, 2021, he succeeded Alhassan Sulemana Tampuli, now a Member of Parliament for Gushegu as National Petroleum Authority (NPA) Chief Executive.

Dr. Abdul- Hamid holds an MPhil and PhD in Religious Studies from the University of Cape Coast. He also taught as a lecturer in the Department of Religion and Human Values at the same university.

Dr. Abdul-Hamid was the National Youth Organiser of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) between 2003-2005. In 2013, he was appointed the Executive Secretary of the Danquah Institute, a Policy and Research Think-tank based in Accra. In 2007, he was appointed Spokesperson for the then New Patriotic Party Presidential Candidate, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo- Addo, until February 2017.

Source: MyNewsGh.com/2022

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