Former Agric Minister Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto on Wednesday, June 21, defied heavy rains in the Assin North area to campaign for Charles Opoku, the NPP parliamentary candidate for the upcoming by-election.

Notable among the areas the NPP flagbearer hopeful visited are Assin Bereku (district capital), Assin Praso, Assin Asempaneye, Akenkanse, Akonfudi, Dansami, Assen Mempasem, Assin Kushia, Assin Senkyem, Assin Brofoyedu, Assin Juaso, Assin Breman, and Bediadua.

In all the areas he visited, Dr Akoto interacted with the people and urged them to vote massively for Charles Opoku to enable him to lobby for more developmental projects for the communities.

He was accompanied by the National Chairman of the party, Stephen Ayensu Ntim, General Secretary, Justin Frimpong Kodua, National Organiser, Henry Nana Boakye (Nana B), Deputy Majority Leader, Alexander Afenyo Markin, and the Minister of State at the Ministry of Local Government, Decentralisation and Rural Development, Osei Bonsu Amoah.

The rest were the campaign chairman for Dr Afriyie's campaign team, and former Greater Accra Regional Chairman of the party, Alfred Boye, National Coordinator for the campaign, Peter Oteng Darko, Central Regional First Vice-Chairman of the party, Assin North NPP Constituency Chairman, District Chief Executive, Assin North, Cape-Coast Municipal Chief Executive, Assin-North constituency executives and several women organizers from the various polling stations in Assin North.

Local rice farmers ambush Dr Akoto

When the news hit the Assin North District that Dr Afriyie Akoto was in town and had started campaigning for Charles Opoku, some rice farmers in the district gathered themselves to meet him at the District Capital, Assin Bereku.

He expressed his appreciation to the rice farmers for honouring him and assured them of President Akufo-Addo’s commitment to supporting their activities.

Background

The relationship between the rice farmers and Dr Owusu Afriyie Akoto dates back to when he was the Kwadaso MP and a Ranking Member of the Food, Agriculture and Cocoa Affairs Committee.

It was during one of their meetings that the then government led by John Dramani Mahama sent a proposal from the Korean Ambassador to Ghana to Parliament about a programme they had designed to study the economic potentials of the Central Region.

The said sponsorship programme by the Korean government did not materialise due to little or no interest from the then government.

However, when the NPP under the leadership of Nana Akufo-Addo took over the political administration duties of the country on January 7, 2017, Dr Akoto immediately reactivated the Korean government’s sponsorship deal.

Addressing the rice farmers, he said that when the Korean experts presented their report, they were of the view that the Central Region has the potential to produce enough rice to feed Ghana and West Africa in general.

“The NDC couldn’t implement the programme despite the persistent reminders. So, when the NPP took over in 2017, I reactivated this deal by the Korean government, and that is why today, we have a lot of you going into rice production here in Assin North District.

"The good news about what you are already enjoying is that President Akufo-Addo, together with the Korean government, has initiated a move to import a lot of equipment and/or farm machinery to boost local rice production in the country. You are going to be the first beneficiaries of this project”, he noted.

He urged the rice farmers to continue believing in the Akufo-Addo government by voting massively for Charles Opoku in the upcoming by-election.

After interacting with the rice farmers, the former two-time MP for Kwadaso constituency and his entourage joined other party members at Assin Bediadua to observe the one-week funeral celebration of Madam Theresa Arthur, who was a Polling Station Women’s Organizer.

He also called on the Chief and elders of Bediadua where he reintroduced Charles Opoku and appealed to them to support their son since he is the only one who could lobby for more developmental projects to the constituency.

The Chief, in a brief statement, appealed to Dr Akoto and the party leaders for more developmental projects in the area.