2024 polls: profile of 10 NPP flagbearer aspirants

The Special Delegates’ Congress for the governing NPP is scheduled for Saturday August 26, 2023 this weekend per the party’s calendar. The NPP will cut down the list of its presidential aspirants from 10 to five in line with its constitution. This will be followed by a national congress on November 4, 2023.

Alan John Kwadwo Kyerematen 

Born on October 3, 1955, Alan John Kwadwo Kyerematen served in the same position, as Trade Minister, between 2003 and 2007 during former president John Agyekum Kufuor ‘s era and Akufo-Addo’s Administration from 2019 until his resignation to vie for NPP flagbearership. He has an extensive and distinguished record in international trade and public policy, enterprise development, politics and diplomacy. Kyerematen was Ghana’s Ambassador to United States and later Minister of Trade and Industry, Private Sector Development and Presidential Special Initiatives during Former President Kufuor’s tenure of office. Kyerematen served as a Trade Advisor at the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where he coordinated the African Trade Policy Centre. Kyerematen made an attempt at the leadership of the New Patriotic Party in 2007, capturing 32.3% of votes cast. He was first runner-up to Akufo-Addo who gained 47.96% of votes cast. Kyerematen made other attempts at the party’s flagbearership in 2010 and 2014 but placed second to Akufo-Addo, who won the primaries. In 2012, Ghana nominated Kyerematen for the post of World Trade Organization’s Director-General to succeed out-going Director-General Pascal Lamy, and his candidature received the backing of the African Union. However, he did not make the shortlist for the final selection process in 2013.

Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia

Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia is an Economist, Banker, and Vice President of Ghana. He was a Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana until his nomination as Vice Presidential candidate for the New Patriotic Party Presidential candidate Nana Akufo-Addo in 2008. He also ran as the vice-presidential candidate of the New Patriotic Party in Ghana’s 2012 general elections and was the lead witness for the petitioners in the 2012/2013 Presidential Election Petition, which challenged the declaration of John Mahama as the winner of Ghana’s 2012 Presidential Election. Alhaji Bawumia served under various Ghanaian governments in various capacities, including a member of the Northern Territories Council, the Gold Coast Legislative Assembly, a Member of Parliament of the First Republic, Northern Regional Minister, and Ghana Ambassador to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Alhaji Bawumia was in March 1999 awarded the highest national honor, membership of the Order of the Star of Ghana. Mahamudu Bawumia’s mother, Hajia Mariama Bawumia, is a native of Kpasenkpe in the West Mamprusi District. She was one of the first northern female students to gain admission to Wesley Girls High School, Cape Coast. Born into a large family, Mahamudu Bawumia was the twelfth of his father’s 18 children and the second of his mother’s five. Mahamudu Bawumia attended the Sakasaka Primary school in Tamale and gained admission to Tamale Secondary School in 1975. He was President of the Ghana United Nations Students’ Association (GUNSA) in 1981. After graduating from Tamale Secondary School, he went to the United Kingdom where he studied banking and obtained the Chartered Institute of Bankers Diploma (ACIB). He took a First-Class Honours Degree in Economics at Buckingham University in 1987. He then obtained a master’s degree in Economics at Lincoln College, Oxford, and obtained a Ph.D. in Economics at Simon Fraser University, Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada in 1995. His areas of specialization include Macroeconomics, International Economics, Development Economics, and Monetary Policy. He has numerous publications. From 1988 to 1990, Bawumia worked as a lecturer in Monetary Economics, and International Finance at the Emile Woolf College of Accountancy in London, England. He also served as an economist at the Research Department of the International Monetary Fund in Washington, DC, USA. Between 1996 and 2000, Bawumia served as an Assistant Professor of Economics at Hankamer School of Business, Baylor University, Texas, USA, where he also received the Young Researcher Award in 1998.

Kennedy Ohene Agyapong

Born on June 16, 1960 and hails from Assin Dompim in the Central Region. Kennedy Ohene Agyapong, is a Ghanaian politician and businessman who represents Assin Central in parliament for the New Patriotic Party. He was first elected a member of parliament in 2000 to the seat of Assin North. He retained his seat in the 2004 and 2008 parliamentary elections. In 2012, he was elected in the new seat of Assin Central and was re-elected in 2016. He also retained his seat in the 2020 general elections. He is currently the Chairman of the Parliament’s Defense and Interior Committee and an aspirant for the presidential candidate on the ticket of the NPP. He had his secondary education at Adisadel College in the Central Region. Kennedy Agyapong still remains one of few politicians who have never lost elections. Kennedy Agyapong chairs the Communication Committee in Parliament, under the current presidency of Nana Akufo-Addo.

Joe Ghartey

Born on June 15, 1961 in Accra and hails from Shama, in the Western Region, Joe Ghartey is a Ghanaian lawyer, academic and politician. He is a former Attorney-General of Ghana from 2006 to 2009), Second Deputy Speaker of Parliament from 2013 to 2017 and Railways and Development Minister 2017 to 2021. He started his early education at the Ridge Church School in Accra and later attended, Mfantsipim Senior High School, in Cape Coast. It was during his time at Mfantsipim School that his leadership qualities began to show. He was appointed House Prefect of Pickard-Parker House in his senior year and he used his good offices to champion the development of sports and student participation in sports programmes at Mfantsipim. After Mfantsipim, Ghartey enrolled to study law and obtained his LLB (Hons) degree in 1986 from the University of Ghana and BL from the Ghana School of Law in 1988, qualifying to be called to the Bar of Ghana in that same year. Joe Ghartey took up a job as an Associate at the Chambers of Lawyer Gwira in Sekondi. Later, he joined the firm of Akufo-Addo, Prempeh & Co., a leading law firm in Ghana, which was co-founded by his colleague parliamentarian and Cabinet Minister in the John Agyekum Kuffour administration, Nana Akuffo-Addo. Ghartey left this firm after seven years and in 1994 co-founded the law firm, Ghartey & Ghartey with his wife Efua Ghartey. He is an authority in Corporate and Investment law.

Kwabena Agyei Agyepong

Kwabena Agyei Agyepong is a Ghanaian civil engineer, politician, and dedicated sports enthusiast. Born on March 6, 1962, in Kumasi, Ghana, he embarked on a distinguished educational journey, culminating in a Bachelor’s Degree in Civil Engineering from the University of Science and Technology in Kumasi. Agyepong’s professional trajectory was marked by his pivotal roles at the Ghana Highways Authority, where he conducted engineering evaluations of major roads and supervised critical repair works at airports. In 1992, he co-founded Constro Consult Limited, a firm specializing in geotechnical investigations and foundation design. His political engagement dates back to Ghana’s return to constitutional rule, where he played integral roles in New Patriotic Party campaigns, including the Adu Boahene Presidential Campaign. Agyepong’s expertise in communications led him to serve as Press Secretary to the President, overseeing media coverage of significant national and international events. His sports enthusiasm saw him anchor a prominent sports program on National Television and cover major sporting events worldwide. Kwabena Agyei Agyepong’s legacy is characterized by his multifaceted contributions to engineering, politics, and sports, reflecting a life dedicated to excellence, service, and nation-building.

Francis Addai-Nimoh

Born March 23, 1965 Francis Addai-Nimoh is a Ghanaian politicia. Francis Addai-Nimoh, the former Asante Mampong legislator is therefore, in a historic campaign that is daring the established names and faces to become NPP’s flagbearer. The civil engineer is contesting to lead the NPP arguing that the party needs fresh candidate to “break the eight”. He identifies as a Christian and is married with three children. Addai-Nimoh He hails from Mampong-Nyinampong, a town in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. He attended the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology where he obtained a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering in 1993. He also attended the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration and obtained an executive master’s degree in Public Administration. Addai-Nimoh is a Development planner by profession and civil engineer.

Dr. Kofi Konadu Apraku

Dr. Kofi Konadu Apraku is a Ghanaian politician, economist and a member of the 2nd, 3rd and 4th Parliament of the 4th Republic of Ghana. He was the Member of Parliament for the Offinso North constituency in the fourth parliament of the fourth Republic of Ghana. Dr. Konadu Apraku was born at Akumadan in the Asante region of Ghana on September 7, 1954. He had his primary and middle school in Akumadan. He continued to the Tweneboa Kodua Secondary School between 1967 and 1972 and continued his education in South Albany High School in Oregon U.S.A. after winning an AFS International essay competition after which he studied for economics degrees at the Oregon State University taking a doctorate in the subject. Dr. Konadu Apraku was Minister for Regional Cooperation and NEPAD in John Kufuor’s Administration from 2003 to 2006. He also served as the Minister of Trade and Industry under Kufour from 2001 to 2003. In 2008, he was appointed by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Council of Ministers as ECOWAS Commissioner for Macro economic Policy and Economic Research where he was responsible for Multilateral surveillance mechanism that involves regular assessment through joint surveillance mission of the economies of ECOWAS members’ state to ascertain whether the convergences criteria are being met. He provides economic and statistical data for member states and help them to attain the convergence criteria and the ECOWAS single currency. He also liaises with the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund, African Development Bank among other financial institution to support the development of ECOWAS regions. Dr. Apraku has had an extensive and successful professional career in the both private and public sector.

Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto

Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto, born on October 19, 1949, is a Ghanaian Agricultural Economist and politician. He worked for more than a decade with the International Coffee Organization. He is a member of the New Patriotic Party and was the Member of Parliament for the Kwadaso Constituency from 2009 to 2016. He is currently a cabinet minister in the Nana Akuffo-Addo administration and serves as the Minister of Food and Agriculture of Ghana. Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto was born to Bafuor Osei Akoto, a prominent member of the pre-independence National Liberation Movement and also a chief linguist at the Manhyia Palace. He had his tertiary education at the University of Ghana, Legon, and graduated with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Agriculture. He then studied at Cambridge University, where he obtained a Master of Science in Agricultural Economics. He earned his Doctor of Philosophy degree at Cambridge in 1985. Afriyie Akoto is married with seven children. He is a member of the Catholic Church of Ghana. Dr. Afriyie Akoto was employed by the International Coffee Organization in London, England. Among the positions he held were economist, senior economist, principal economist, and chief economic advisor. He also served as a consultant to the World Bank (a United Nations agency) on soft commodities -namely, cocoa, coffee, and sugar. After working for over 18 years abroad, he returned to Ghana where from 1995 to 2008 he served as the CEO of Goldcrest Commodities Limited and Plantation Resources Limited.

Boakye Kyerematen Agyarko

Boakye Kyeremateng Agyarko is a Ghanaian Economist, politician and former banker born in 1956, at Kumasi to Kwasi Agyarko who was a merchant and the United Party activist, his mother was Jane Ladze Padi from Krobo Odumase in the Eastern Region Agyarko attended the K. O. Methodist Primary School in Ashtown and the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology Primary School in Kumasi. He then proceeded to Mfantsipim School in Cape Coast for his secondary education from where he had both his GCE Ordinary Level and GCE Advanced Level. He obtained his Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics and Political Science from the University of Ghana, Legon. He immigrated to the United States of America as a political refugee. Whilst there, he obtained an Advanced Professional Certificate in Banking from the American Institute of Banking and Master of Business Administration in Financial Economics from Pace University New York. He was the vice president of the bank of New York and the former Minister for Energy in Ghana. However, the economist Agyarko entered politics at an early age and was at the time the National Coordinator for the Ghana Union of Students and Youth Associations from 1979 to 1980. He was a founding member of the New Patriotic Party in 1992, he held several positions in the party including chairman of The Danquah Busia Club of North America, and briefly served as a Trustee of the Busia Foundation. He was elected the coordinator for the New Patriotic Party in North America, Agyarko was appointed as National Campaign manager of the New Patriotic Party in the 2012 Presidential election. He was appointed the Policy Adviser to the Presidential Candidate of the New Patriotic Party during the 2016 election and in January 2017, Agyarko was appointed the minister of energy by President Akufo-Addo in 2019 but later resigned.

Kwadwo Nsafoah Poku

Kwadwo Nsafoah Poku is an entrepreneur with 21 years of experience in the countrys energy sector. He also serves as Board Director of Multinational companies such as Pan African Capital Ghana Limited, FIFC Management and Development Limited. Kwadwo Nsafoah Poku was the Country Director for GASOP OIL (GHANA) LIMITED from June 2002 to September 2012. He worked as Special Assistant to the Minister of Tourism, the late Hon. Hawa Yakubu from January 2001 to May 2002. He has been endorsed by the Ashanti Youth for Good Governance to contest for elections for the position of President of Ghana on the ticket of the New Patriotic Party in 2024.