Akufo-Addo, Nana (Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo), 1944–, Ghanaian lawyer, government official, and political leader, president of Ghana (2017–). Born into a prominent political family, he studied at the Univ. of Ghana and in Britain, then practiced law in France and Ghana. In the late 1970s he joined the People's Movement for Freedom and Justice, opposing Col. I. K. Acheampong's military government. As a member of the New Patriotic party he was elected to parliament in 1996, and served as attorney general and justice minister (2001–3) and foreign minister (2003–7) under President Kufuor. He ran unsuccessfully for president twice (2008, 2012) before being elected to the office (2016), defeating President Mahama, whom he had faced in 2012. Akufo-Addo was reelected in 2020; Mahama again was his main opponent.
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2024, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved.
See more Encyclopedia articles on: African History: Biographies
