The former Minister of Food and Agriculture and an aspiring flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto, says he has laid a solid foundation for Ghana’s agricultural sector that is capable of changing the country’s economic fortunes.
“During the six years of my tenure in the Akufo-Addo government, we laid the foundations both in terms of programmes, legislations and intellectual capacity to build an agriculture, which will provide the finances both foreign and local to finance our industrial development, our education, health and infrastructure including motorways, farm tracks and all the requirements that we need to make a good country,” the former Member of Parliament (MP) for Kwadaso Constituency said.
“What is now left is a proper takeoff with the right investment and resources.”
He said when given the opportunity to become the flagbearer of the NPP, and subsequently as President of the Republic of Ghana, the first step he would take towards achieving that goal would be to create the Agricultural Management Committee, headed by the President.
The Agricultural Management Committee would facilitate the investment of the right resources in the agriculture sector. He said this in Accra yesterday whilst addressing the media immediately after submitting his nomination forms to contest the flagbearer position of the NPP.
He was accompanied by two Co-campaign chairmen, Alfred Boye, a former Greater Accra NPP Regional Chairman, and Kenwuud Norwusu, also former NPP Volta region chairman. Also in his entourage were 22 constituency chairmen from the Greater Accra Region and the National Coordinator of the campaign team, Peter Oteng Darko and some farmers who largely benefitted from the planting for food and jobs initiative.
Corroborating his claim, the former Minister of Food and Agriculture stated that one major policy he initiated and now being implemented is Tree Crop Development Authority (TCDA),which has the mandate to promote six tree crops including cashew, mango, rubber, shea, coffee and coconut.
The tree development authority, when fully developed and attains its peak, is estimated to add about twelve billion dollars to Ghana’s economy.
These six tree crops, he noted, have the potential of generating US$12 billion annually for the country.
That notwithstanding, the government’s flagship program, Planting for Food and Jobs, which he introduced and spearheaded, brought food security to the country. Dr. Afriyie Akoto also said apart from the tree crop development Authority initiative, several other legislations were near completion before he left office and these were, Poultry Development Authority, Grains Development Authority, which is under consideration in parliament, the Horticultural Development Authority currently at the Cabinet level.
He also hinted that legislation has been proposed requiring all commercial banks to increase loanable funds to the Agric sector. He maintained that when all these initiatives are properly structured and the right investments are made, it will give Ghana the economic freedom that it badly needed.
Dr. Afriyie Akoto further appealed to the delegates to vote massively for him to bear the flag of the NPP and subsequently elected as President of Ghana.
“I am, therefore, assuring you that having taken this first step today on the road to the 26th of August for the super delegates conference, I am appealing to the delegates that when the time comes they should vote for Owusu Afriyie Akoto to make this party great again and will also turn things around to ensure that the country becomes prosperous.”
The governing NPP opened nomination for presidential primary on Friday, May 26, 2023. Nominations will end on Saturday, June 24, 2023.Special Electoral College Elections (if any) will be held on Saturday, August 26, 2023, and National Congress slated for Saturday, November 4, 2023.
By Stephen Odoi-Larbi
