Be committed to serving humanity – Kufuor to Columbia University delegation

Leadership is about serving humanity and improving the lives of the majority; therefore, any action made at the top must have a good impact at the bottom, former President John Agyekum Kufour has advised.

He was addressing a delegation from Columbia University that paid him a courtesy visit at his residence in Accra on Tuesday, 15 March 2022.

“What are you deciding for? And at the bottom, it should be to better the interest of the people always,” he admonished.

Former President Kufuor further urged his visitors to focus on a few things that will make a maximum impact rather than diluting their efforts on many things that might not benefit the masses.

“Just because you want to change the world doesn’t mean you spread yourself thin all over the place. You should be able to do an agenda itemize; what do I start with? what impact will you make to the benefit of the people and do it in such a way that the benefit will have an inclusive impact on all.”

When asked what he would do differently if, given a chance to run for president again, Mr Kufuor stated that he was not interested in being a president again but that anyone who is given the opportunity to lead must adhere to the basic principles of leadership, which he believes are about serving humanity.

He said, “The basic principles I don’t think should change, its all got to do with humanity, bettering the lot of mankind across board. The terms are so complex and difficult; technology abound, and we are already talking about artificial intelligence. We do not want to put people in a situation where decisions are made without the human feeling and human touch.”

“If we are going to use machines and the machines are so programmed, robots that do not have that human touch, human feelings, that’s very dangerous, so always when you get the chance know that you’re there to serve people, human beings, and work in that direction even as you use the modern technologies”.