Afriyie Akoto’s Period As Agric Minister Saved Ghana From Food Shortage - Spokesperson

Spokesperson for Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto campaign’s team, Prince Amuzu says the former Agriculture Minister’s tenure as Food and Agriculture Minister saved Ghana from a food crisis. According to him, the New Patriotic Party flagbearer hopeful was able to develop policies and strategies that guaranteed that there was enough food in the country.

On the back of this, he believes Dr Akoto’s vision to transform the country through agriculture outweighs all other factors. Speaking on Monday to and interview he said the comparative view of the point you put forward that there is a failing, you have to compare to have the weight of it.

Look at the opportunity cost, if NPP were not in power, if Akufo-Addo was not president, if Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto was not Agric Minister, do you know we would have had food crisis in Ghana by now? he suggested. His comments were in response to whether Dr Afriyie Akoto was ready to accept his failures as Agric Minister.

Also, touching on whether the minister was ready to run on his current record and that of the president, Mr Amuzu stressed that “he [Akoto Afriyie] is part of the record of President Akufo-Addo, and he is not shying away from his record as the Agric Minister. So, sure he is going to run on the record of this government, which he is proud of, he said.

Again, when asked why Dr Akoto was talking about using Agric to transform the economy but failed to do so when he was sector minister for six years, he insisted that the structures needed to make agriculture the bedrock of Ghana’s economy was linked to some legal components, therefore until that was resolved, it would be difficult.

Nonetheless, he was optimistic that the former Agric Minister’s plans would begin the process to resolve this. The spokesperson stressed that within the last six years, the current government has laid a strong foundation upon which when given the opportunity, he is able to continue and make agriculture the bedrock of the economy, and raise the necessary foreign exchange to fund the social sectors of the economy.