I went to Kumasi to rest and recover from a fever not to announce presidential bid - Afriyie Akoto
- Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto has denied being in Kumasi to announce a presidential bid
- He said he was there to rest and recover from a fever
- The minister said he will never make president Akufo-Addo uncomfortable with such an announcement
Food and Agric Minister, Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto, has dismissed reports that he was in Kumasi to announce his presidential ambition over the weekend.
Instead, he said he was in the capital of the Ashanti Region to rest and recover from a fever he was battling.
Source: UGC
Afriyie Akoto’s denial followed reports that he met “some top-notch power brokers” of the NPP in Kumasi over the weekend where he announced his intention to join the scramble to lead the governing NPP into the 2024 elections.
Afriyie Akoto, according to the reports informed the meeting which included some constituency chairpersons of his desire with the campaign slogan: Okumkom (Hunger Killer).
He, however, admitted he met the executives saying in a statement sighted by YEN.com.gh that:
“As a former Member of Parliament in the region and as a senior member of this government, 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.”
He said he will never put the president in an “uncomfortable situation” by using his name to campaign.
In other news on YEN.com.gh, former Deputy Finance Minister, Dr. Cassiel Ato Forson called on the Akufo-Addo administration to ban sports betting.
The Ranking Member on the Finance Committee of Parliament’s call came on the back of disclosures by the caretaker Finance Minister, Osei Kyei Mensa-Bonsu that the country loses over Ghs300million to leakages in the gaming industry.
Mensa-Bonsu said when he delivered the 2021 Budget Statement that the Finance and Interior Ministries had been tasked to take responsibility for the industry and carved out a policy to improve revenue collection from the industry.
Speaking on Joy News’ PM: Express on Monday, March 15, 2021, Ato Forson bemoaned how the industry is destroying the Ghanaian youth. For him, sports betting must be banned instead of taxing it.
“Ghana today, we are complaining that this gambling is destroying our youth. I have read several articles on this. I would have thought the government will come out with a policy to restrict gambling and to even ban it,” he said.
“To run a country is not all about money,” the MP for Ajumako-Enyan-Esiam added. “You need to preserve society as well.”
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Source: YEN.com.gh
