Free SHS proves Akufo-Addo outperformed Nkrumah – NAPO

Former Vice-Presidential Candidate of the New Patriotic Party, Dr. Matthew Opoku Prempeh, says his comparison between former President Nana Akufo-Addo and Osagyefo Dr. Kwame Nkrumah was based on evidence, not disrespect.

Dr. Opoku Prempeh, popularly known as NAPO, made the clarification during an interview on GHOne TV on Thursday evening while defending comments he made during the 2024 election season that sparked widespread public backlash.

The former Energy Minister said critics deliberately ignored the context of his statement for political traction, accusing him of insulting Ghana’s first President.

“They accused me of making Nana Akufo-Addo better than Nkrumah because they don’t know what the context was,” he said. “People took it out and said, ‘Ah, you have insulted Nkrumah,’ because that is what will gain traction.”

Dr. Prempeh argued that similar comparisons involving Dr. Nkrumah had been made by others without attracting the same level of condemnation.

He cited comments by National Democratic Congress National Organiser Joseph Yamin, who had publicly suggested that former President John Dramani Mahama performed better than Dr. Nkrumah.

“If you go on your page now and search, you will find what Yamin said on a political platform about Nkrumah and Mahama,” he stated. “He said John Mahama did far better than Kwame Nkrumah. He never got the negative traction.”

He added that a traditional leader in the Greater Accra Region had also made a similar comparison involving President Mahama without public outrage.

Dr. Prempeh maintained that his own comparison was grounded in measurable outcomes, particularly in the education sector.

“In 1960, the total population in secondary school was not a million,” he said. “In 2025, the total population is more than one million, and what Nana Addo offered in Free SHS never existed under Kwame Nkrumah.”

According to him, the Free Senior High School policy alone represents a transformational achievement that surpasses anything available during Dr. Nkrumah’s era.

“Evidentially, it is a fact,” he insisted. “But instead of examining the evidence, people prefer the controversy.”

Dr. Prempeh stressed that acknowledging policy outcomes should not be mistaken for disrespect to historical figures, arguing that democratic debate requires honest assessment of governance records.

His original statement, that no government comes close to the achievements of Nana Akufo-Addo, “not even your Kwame Nkrumah,” drew sharp criticism from sections of the public, historians, and political opponents.