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.
President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo in a statement accepting Dr. Akoto’s resignation indicated that Madam Koomson will hold the fort until a substantive minister is appointed.
The announcement was made in a statement released on Thursday night and signed by Eugene Arhin, the Director of Communications at the Office of the President.
“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 officially resigned as the Minister of Food and Agriculture last Tuesday.
He stepped down to focus on his ambition to lead the New Patriotic Party (NPP) as its presidential candidate going into the 2024 general elections.
Dr. Akoto’s resignation came days after Alan Kyerematen also resigned from the government as Trade Minister to focus on his presidential ambition.
The outgone Agric Minister 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.
In November 2022, in the midst of economic challenges and rising food prices, Dr. Afriyie Akoto implemented the controversial Planting for Food and Jobs policy at the premises of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture to sell cheaper foods to Ghanaians.
