President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has asked Fisheries and Aquaculture Minister Mavis Hawa Koomson to act as caretaker of the Food and Agriculture Ministry.
This follows the resignation of the sector minister, Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto.
In accepting Dr. Akoto’s resignation, President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo stated that Madam Koomson will hold the fort until a substantive minister is appointed.
The announcement was made in a statement issued Thursday night and signed by Eugene Arhin, Director of Communications at the President’s Office.
“The President of Republic, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, has accepted the resignation from office of Hon. Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto as Minister for Food and Agriculture. This was after the Minister personally presented his letter of resignation to the President at Jubilee House on Tuesday, 10th January 2023.
“President Akufo-Addo conveyed his sincere gratitude to Hon. Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto for his services to government and to the nation, and wished him the best of luck in his future endeavours.”
“The President has, subsequently, tasked the Minister for Fisheries and Aquaculture, Hon. Mavis Hawa Koomson, Member of Parliament for Awutu Senya East, to act as caretaker Minister at the Ministry of Food and Agriculture until a substantive replacement is made.”
Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto resigned as Minister of Food and Agriculture on Tuesday.
He stepped down to focus on his ambition to lead the New Patriotic Party (NPP) as its presidential candidate in the 2024 general elections.
Dr. Akoto’s resignation came just days after Alan Kyerematen resigned as Trade Minister to focus on his presidential campaign.
The former Agriculture Minister was a Member of Parliament for the Kwadaso Constituency in Kumasi, Ashanti Region, for two terms.
He served in Parliament as Deputy Ranking Member and then as the substantive Ranking Member of the Committee on Food, Agriculture, and Cocoa Affairs until 2017, when he was appointed Minister of Food and Agriculture.
Dr. Afriyie Akoto implemented the controversial Planting for Food and Jobs policy at the Ministry of Food and Agriculture in November 2022, in the midst of economic challenges and rising food prices, in order to sell cheaper foods to Ghanaians.
