Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto, a flagbearer aspirant of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), is relying on farmers to secure victory in the party’s upcoming presidential primaries. He claims that most NPP delegates who are farmers have benefited from the policies and programmes he implemented during his tenure as the Food and Agric Minister. Speaking to journalists in Accra, Dr. Akoto stated that his track record makes him the clear favorite, and that he will receive support from the one million farmers who have witnessed the impact of his policies.
Dr. Akoto has officially resigned from his position to focus on his Presidential ambition and wants to lead the NPP into the 2024 general elections. He has 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.
Dr. Akoto is in fierce competition with Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, Assin Central MP, Kennedy Agyapong, and Francis Addai Nimo, who have also declared their intention to contest in the party’s flagbearership race. Others include former MP for Essikado-Ketan, Joe Ghartey, former General Secretary of the NPP, Kwabena Agyapong, Dr. Kofi Konadu Apraku, and former Energy Minister Boakye Agyarko.
The NPP has set November 4, 2023, for its presidential primaries to select a flagbearer for the general elections in 2024. However, if more than five candidates file to run in the primaries, the party will call a Special Congress on August 26. The nomination period for the presidential primaries will begin on May 26 and end on June 24, 2023. It remains to be seen which candidate will emerge as the winner and lead the NPP into the 2024 general elections.
