I Haven't Been Dormant With My Campaign - Afriyie Akoto

Former Food and Agriculture Minister, Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto says he has been campaigning quietly since resigning. He claims to have toured the entire country in order to rally New Patriotic Party (NPP) delegates ahead of the party’s primaries. Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto has announced his intention to lead the NPP in the 2024 election.

He told journalists that he is waiting for the party to officially announce a date for the primaries before launching his campaign. “I have been running around the country now for six years. Every year except 2020 that COVID prevented me, I had been going around the country as the Minister for Agriculture because I have been waiting for the party to come out with a date for the primaries, and then I will draw up my programme accordingly.

It doesn’t mean, my supporters are asleep. They are very active in all the 16 regions.” Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto officially resigned to focus on his Presidential ambition as he wants to lead the New Patriotic Party (NPP) into the 2024 general elections. He served as a Member of Parliament for the Kwadaso Constituency in Kumasi in the Ashanti Region for two terms.

In Parliament, he held the position of Deputy Ranking Member and subsequently the substantive Ranking Member for the Committee on Food, Agriculture and Cocoa Affairs until 2017 when he was appointed the Minister for Food and Agriculture. In November 2022, in the midst of economic challenges and rising food prices, Dr Afriyie Akoto implemented the controversial Planting for Food and Jobs policy at the premises of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture to sell cheaper foods to Ghanaians.