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Ghana’s Agric Minister Dr Afriyie Akoto has denied any intention of running for the Jubilee House in ahead of the country’s next general elections.
He stated this while responding to reports circulating online about his intention to become flagbearer of the governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) as it plans to hold its presidential primaries in 2023.
The Minister’s name had come up strongly after news broke that he had announced his bid to succeed President Akufo-Addo when he met some party stalwarts and executives in the Ashanti Regional capital, Kumasi.
“Totally false”, Dr Akoto told Accra-based Joy FM. “I always meet party people when I go to Kumasi. And not only in Kumasi, I meet party people in my office in Accra, in my home because these are people that I associate with so what is the big deal?” he quizzed.
“As a former member of Parliament in the region and as a senior member of this government, I accepted to grant audience to some party executives who had been making calls for a meeting to discuss matters concerning the welfare of the party. However, such meetings will end with an amount given as a transportation to guests who came from far and near”, he had earlier explained in a statement sighted by dailymailgh.com.
The Minister also rejected claims he was using the name of President Akufo-Addo to campaign for votes adding that his office will never induce delegates with freebies to pursue a political ambition.
“Being mindful of the fact that these [tractors] are purely meant for farming purposes, I will never use their allocation or distribution for my personal political ambition…It is not secret that I have a very close relationship with President Akufo-Addo which predates our political careers. But it can only be a figment of one’s imagination to assume that I will put the President in such an uncomfortable situation by using his name to campaign”, the statement further added.
The NPP will hold presidential primaries in 2023 to elect a flagbearer for the next elections.
Although the ruling party had barred internal political campaigns ahead of the party’s presidential candidate race, a lot of names have come up including the Vice President Dr Mahamud Bawumia as potential candidates.
Source: Daily Mail GH
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