President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo has accepted the resignation of Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto from the Food and Agriculture Ministry.

The President has thus thanked him for his service and extended his best wishes to Dr. Akoto in his future dealings.

Dr. Akoto stepped down as Agric Minister last Tuesday ostensibly to pursue his presidential ambitions ahead of the next general elections in 2024.

“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. 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”, parts of a statement from the Jubilee House read.

Dr. Akoto’s resignation came days after Alan Kyerematen also resigned from the government as Trade Minister to focus on his presidential ambition.

Meanwhile, the President has asked Fisheries and Aquaculture Minister, Mavis Hawa Koomson to act as caretaker of the Food and Agriculture Ministry following the resignation of the sector minister.

Madam Koomson will hold the fort until a substantive minister is appointed.

“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”, the statement released on Thursday night and signed by Eugene Arhin, the Director of Communications at the Office of the President further added.

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.