Former President Kufuor and his guests during the visit to his residence
Five days after winning the flagbearership race of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has departed for the United Kingdom.
Dr. Bawumia is honouring an invitation to grace a high-level academic symposium at the University of Oxford.
The event, Dr. Bawumia said, is being hosted by the Blavatnik School of Government to celebrate the career of Professor Paul Collier, a globally renowned development economist known for his work on poverty, governance and economic growth in Africa.
“While at Oxford, I shall participate in other activities and return to Ghana at the weekend, God willing,” Dr. Bawumia wrote.
Prof. Collier is a former World Bank researcher and long-time Oxford professor who is credited with advising several African governments and international institutions on economic policy and conflict reduction.
Former Vice President, Dr. Bawumia, secured the NPP’s presidential candidacy for the 2028 polls last week, as the party positions itself for a return to power after losing the 2024 elections to President John Dramani Mahama.
The visit comes as he engages international policy circles alongside domestic political outreach ahead of the next electoral cycle.
Before leaving Accra, his house hosted a number of dignitaries who called to congratulate him on his victory.
He too called on former Presidents John Agyekum Kufuor and Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo on a courtesy mission.
At former President Kufuor’s residence, Dr. Bawumia met Dr. Arthur Kennedy, with whom he shared pleasantries. Dr. Kennedy called for support for Dr. Bawumia.
Former President Kufuor’s warm reception for Dr. and Mrs. Samira Bawumia could not have been better expressed than when he accompanied the couple to board their car after the visit.
Earlier, members of the Minority in Parliament led by their leader, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, paid a courtesy call on Dr. Bawumia at his private residence at Tseado, Accra.
Mr. Afenyo-Markin pledged the support of the Minority towards victory in 2028.
Now that the party has a flagbearer, the activities of the Minority, he said, would be aligned with the policies of the leader of the party.
“Things would no longer be done as we used to until your election, because at the time we had no flagbearer. We would consult you regularly for direction as the flagbearer,” he assured Dr. Bawumia.