Blame my detractors, I have no intention to run for president - Afriyie Akoto clarifies

Ghana’s Food and Agriculture Minister, Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto, has denied claims that he shared up to GH¢1 million to executives of his party, the NPP, in the Ashanti region as a way of fueling his presidential ambitions through the ticket of the party.

He insisted, in a statement, that the claims are just fabricated and biased.

“Meeting 17 constituency executives for each of the 47 constituencies in my house meant I was receiving about 700 delegates. My house does not have the capacity to accommodate such numbers,” he argued.

Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto further noted that when he recently travelled to Kumasi, it was to rest and recover from a fever although he met with some party executives at his home.

He explained that on their way out, he gave the executives some money that was only meant to facilitate their transportation and nothing more.

“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 end with an amount given as transportation to guests who came from far and near,” he explained.

He has refuted claims that he was leveraging his relationship with President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo to further his political ambitions of being the party flagbearer and eventually run for the high office of president of Ghana.

“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. There is a deliberate effort by my detractors from within and outside my party to cause disaffection between me and the party and between me and the government for which I have worked so hard in the last four years,” he further stated.

Earlier, campaign posters of Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto emerged on social media, supporting the suspicions that speculations that he is nursing ambitions to run for president.

Following this, other posters have also emerged of Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia and Trade and Industry Minister, Alan Kyerematen.

Meanwhile, a Deputy General Secretary of the NPP, Nana Obiri Boahene, has criticized persons who have started campaigning for some potential aspirants for the vacant Flagbearer slot of the party, going into the General Elections of 2024.

Also, the governing party is expected to hold its presidential primary in 2023, reports Citi News.