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I am very observant as a student of human relations and as first impression is very necessary to ascertain the behaviour of a personality, I took advantage of the opportunity I had to meet the leader and Flagbearer of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo by coincidence in his residence to observe some negative things which have been said about him in public.

I am sure you can recall that a lot of people including some members of ruling NDC and some members of the opposition NPP say that Nana Akufo-Addo is arrogant who does not like to work with some people and even shake hands with anyone.

Some people even see Nana Akufo-Addo to be bad for the mere fact that he was born into riches and also for the fact that he might not have done certain things growing up as a young man in the country, for instance boarding ‘trotro’ and eating certain kinds of food.

As a human relations student, I can appreciate when people react to certain issues differently, to the extent that someone not boarding ‘trotro’ before and not eating certain kinds of food can make people to dislike you and brand you as a bad person who is not even fit to hold any position in the country and serve your country as well.

Up to today, if you ask people why they see Akufo-Addo to be bad to the point that he does not deserve to hold any leadership position in the country, you will get funny reasons from the people who have not come anywhere near Nana Akufo-Addo. They will simply tell you that ‘yes, he is a mean or wicked person who will only come to power to arrest people for wrong doings, so I cannot have such a person as my president’. That’s an expression you hear but when you ask whether they have met and experience such behaviour of Akufo-Addo, they will tell you ‘ooh! No but that’s what everybody is saying so I think it is true’.

Back to what some people still think of Nana Akufo-Addo, they say he is into drugs and drug business and yet still, nobody has been able to expose him of dealing in drugs or even using drugs; not one that I know of. All these allegations, as them and they will tell you that they also heard from others.

I think it is high time we go beyond the rumour we hear about people and observe a little bit all the things said about a personality then draw our own conclusion in order to be fair with our critics as I did when I first met with Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo in his residence at Nima, a suburb of Accra last year Christmas break.

Well, I have met with Nana Akufo-Addo and shook hands with him and I’m sure you will say ‘and so what’; well, and so I have a different opinion after meeting him for the first time. The kind of interaction I had with him has completely wiped out every negative thought I used to hold of him in public.

In my observation, I have realised that Nana Akufo-Addo is humble and down to earth, no matter whom you are, he is ready to meet and interact with you; I also got to know that Nana Akufo-Addo is a principle statesman but along the line, I got to know why people are not comfortable with the principle he holds as a man. But I like that kind of principle as a leader.

I will give you the detail report of my observation of Nana Akufo-Addo in Party Two when I first shook hands with him; before I forget, I must say Nana Akufo Addo is not hypocrite or pretender and to me that is the kind of leader I aspire to be in life.