A flagbearer aspirant of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto, has told party members to vote for him in the upcoming election to become the party's flagbearer.
According to him, if given the nod in the November election, he will lead the NPP to break the ‘8’ and make Ghana a prosperous country.
He said on Wednesday, May 29, 2023, when a group of farmers and friends presented to him nomination forms of the party’s presidential primary they had picked for him as a sign of support for his presidential ambition.
“I will not let you down. I will go all out and clinch victory for ourselves and NPP and Ghana will become a better place for us”, he said.
The former Food and Agriculture Minister told hundreds of party faithful that his enviable track record as an Agriculture Economist for almost two decades at the United Nations and also as the Minister of Food and Agriculture of Ghana bear testimony to his capabilities.
Commenting further, he said for six years that he headed the Ministry of Food and Agriculture, one of the most sensitive portfolios in the country, he laid a very good foundation for the country to thrive on for many years to come.
He took time to highlight his ambitious programs for the country, using Agriculture as the base to drive the other sectors of the economy.
“I used to work with the UN system for 18 years and I have worked around with all kinds of governments. I haven’t seen any government which has been able to develop its economy by borrowing both locally and externally. It is always the generation of domestic production and the alternative we have is agriculture production for export and domestic food security.
“So, it is the right thing to do and it is something that I am going to preach and preach and preach to everybody that if I become the President of Ghana, this country will use most of its public resources to generate the capacity that agriculture has so that we can get more foreign exchange and local currency to finance the development of other sectors of the economy”, he stated. Dr. Afriyie Akoto
Akoto Afriyie joins Dr. Kofi Konadu Apraku, former MP for Mampong constituency, Kofi Addae Nimo, former Energy Minister, Boakye Agyarko and former General Secretary of the NPP, Kwabena Agyei Agyapong, picked their nomination form to signal their readiness for the contest.
It is however not clear when the MP for Ketan, Joe Ghartey, former Trade and Industry Minister, Alan Kwadwo Kyerematen, MP for Assin Central, Kennedy Ohene Agyapong and Vice-President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, will pick their nomination forms.