Former Minister for Food and Agriculture and Abetifi MP, Dr Bryan Acheampong, has refuted claims that he distributed government fertilisers to New Patriotic Party (NPP) parliamentary candidates during the 2024 general elections.

He clarified that the fertilisers were distributed through the Ministry’s district agricultural offices, not through political party structures.

Dr Acheampong made the clarification after a confrontation with the NPP’s 2024 parliamentary candidate for Ejura, Gifty Ndomah, during his campaign tour of the constituency.

Ms Ndomah challenged the former Minister’s earlier assertion that fertilisers had been given to parliamentary candidates for distribution but were allegedly withheld by some candidates who sought to smuggle them.

Speaking later at a rally in Ejura as part of his campaign ahead of the NPP’s forthcoming presidential primaries, Dr Acheampong described the allegations as false and misleading.

He insisted that fertilisers purchased with public funds could not have been allocated to political candidates, as that would constitute an abuse of government resources.

“The government can’t distribute fertilisers from the Ministry of Food and Agriculture to your parliamentary candidate on the ticket of a political party. That’s not how government funds are used,” he said.

“If that were the case, then during election period, government funds would have been taken and given to our parliamentary candidates across the country — but that’s not how a country is governed.”

Dr Acheampong further explained that all fertilisers under the government’s agricultural programmes were dispatched to the district level for accountability and proper supervision.

“When the fertilisers are sent to the district, then during its distribution, as your party is in government, you can have an influence, but in terms of accountability and responsibility, it is not in your hands,” he stated.