Meet all 10 NPP Presidential Aspirants

Listen to this article Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

The governing New Patriotic Party (NPP) is currently electing five out of the 10 flagbearer aspirants for the November 4, 2023, national conference of the party.

The five successful candidates will go for the final round of the presidential primary to elect a flag bearer for the 2024 general election. 

A total of 956 delegates, all senior members of the party, are expected to vote in today’s election to shortlist the five.

The delegates comprise the National Council, National Executive Committee (NEC), regional executive committees, members of the National Council of Elders, Members of Parliament, three representatives of each of the special organs of the party, past national officers, three representatives each from every external branch (27 branches in all), and founder members at the registration of the party at the Electoral Commission (EC).

The election will take place in all the 16 regional capitals across the country, and at the NPP headquarters at Asylum Down in Accra, with the final collation slated to take place at the EC headquarters in Accra. 

But who are the candidates.. Myjoyonline.com brings you a brief profile of all 10 aspirants in the order they appear on the ballot paper.

Kennedy Ohene Agyapong

Born on June 16, 1960, Mr. Kennedy Ohene Agyapong hails from Assin Dompim in the Central region.

He attended Adisadel College in the year 1976 but could not proceed to the sixth form. He therefore completed his sixth form education at Winneba Secondary School.

He obtained a GCE A level in the year 1983 before proceeding to the United States of America to pursue his education at Fordham University but dropped out.

He started working at the Assin Farms where he became the Managing Director. He also worked at the Super Care Group of Companies and the Hollywood Shopping Center

Currently, he is the Member of Parliament for Assin Central; a position he has held since 2000.

He owns a number of companies including Oman FM, Ash FM, Net 2 TV, Super Care Company Limited (Dealers in Air Conditioners), Mina D’oro Ventures, M/S Imperial World Business Limited, and Gold Coin Communication.

He is married with 22 children.

Alan John Kwadwo Kyeremanten

Mr. Alan John Kwadwo Kyerematen was born on October 3, 1955.

He attended Adisadel College in Cape Coast at a record age of nine years, and thereafter attended the prestigious Achimota School for his sixth form education.

He proceeded to the University of Ghana, Legon for a Bachelor’s degree in Economics.

Mr. Kyerematen also holds a Law degree, LLB from the Ghana Law School at the same university where he qualified as a Barrister-at-Law.

He was called to the bar and is a practicing attorney-at-law in Ghana.

Mr. Kyerematen was appointed Ghana’s Ambassador to the U.S when the NPP came into office in 2001.

In 2003, Alan Kyerematen was appointed as the Cabinet Minister with responsibility for Trade, Industry, and the President’s Special Initiatives (PSI) by former President John Agyekum Kufuor.

Mr. Kyeremanten made an attempt at the leadership of the NPP in 2007, capturing 32.3% of votes cast. He was the first runner up to Nana Akufo-Addo who gained 47.96% of the votes.

In 2010 and 2014, he made other attempts for the flagbearership position of the party but placed second to Akufo-Addo who won the primaries.

He was subsequently appointed Minister for Trade and Industry in 2017 when Akufo-Addo won the general elections in 2016, till he resigned from his post in January 2023.

He is married to Patricia Christabel Kyerematen. They are blessed with two children.

Joe Ghartey

Joe Ghartey was born on June 15, 1961 in Accra.

He is an old student of Mfantsipim School, where he was appointed House Prefect.

Mr. Ghartey later enrolled to study law and obtained his LLB degree from the University of Ghana in 1986.

He obtained a BL from the Ghana School of Law in 1988 and was called to the Ghana Bar that same year.

He was an associate at Akufo-Addo, Prempeh and Co. for seven years before setting up Ghartey & Ghartey with his wife, Efua Ghartey in 1994.

Mr. Ghartey was Ghana’s Deputy Attorney General from March 2005 to June 2006.

He was subsequently appointed substantive Attorney General and Minister for Justice from June 2006 to January 2009 by the erstwhile John Agyekum Kufuor administration.

In January 2013, Mr. Joe Ghartey was named Second Deputy Speaker of Parliament.

He was a 5 term Member of Parliament for Essikado Ketan.

In 2017, he was appointed Minister for Railways Development by President Akufo-Addo till 2021.

He is married with 5 children.

Kwadwo Poku

Born in the year 1974, the 49 year-old energy sector veteran has over 24 years of practical business experience under his belt.

He studied Civil Engineering (B.Eng) at City University, London.

Mr Kwadwo Poku is a businessman and energy expert who has worked on various projects for years at different levels in the energy sector.

He also serves as a Board Director of Multinational companies such as Pan African Capital Ghana Limited and FIFC Management and Development Limited.

He was the Country Director for GASOP OIL (GHANA) LIMITED from June 2002  to September 2012.

He designed the Ministry of Tourism first Website in 2001, which had a database of all tourist sites in Ghana.

He was also the liaison between the Ministry and donor agencies that supported the Ministry to develop their TMIS.

He is currently the CEO and Founder of FKP & RALD INVESTMENT LTD.

Afriyie Akoto

Owusu Afriyie Akoto was born on 19 October 1949 to Baffour Osei Akoto, a prominent member of the pre-independence National Liberation Movement and also a chief linguist at the Manhyia Palace.

He attended Opoku Ware School in Kumasi. He had his tertiary education at the University of Ghana, Legon, and graduated with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Agriculture.

Dr Akoto holds a doctorate in Agricultural Economics from the University of Cambridge and had been Minister of Food and Agriculture since 2017 until his resignation in January this year to focus on his presidential ambition.

He is credited with the implementation of the Planting for Food and Jobs programme.

He was for two terms the MP for Kwadaso in Kumasi, Ashanti Region, from 2009.

He is married with seven children.

Kwabena Agyapong

Mr. Agyapong was born on 6 March 1962, in Kumasi in the Ashanti Region of Ghana.

He was the son of Justice Kwadwo Agyei Agyepong, one of three prominent Ghanaian judges who was abducted and murdered during the early years of Ghana’s Provisional National Defence Council (PNDC) rule.

He had his secondary education at Mfantsipim School.

Mr. Agyapong is a civil engineer who also served as the Press Secretary to former President Kufuor from 2001 to 2006.

He was one of the 17 aspirants who contested the party’s presidential primary in 2007, ahead of the 2008 general election.

In 2014, Mr Agyapong contested the position of General Secretary of the NPP and won. However, he was suspended from his position as General Secretary after some party members filed a petition against him.

Kwabena Agyapong is married to Lawrencia and the couple have three lovely children.

Addai-Nimoh

Mr. Francis Addai-Nimoh was born on March 23, 1956.

He hails from Mampong-Nyinampong, a town in the Ashanti Region.

Mr. Addai-Nimoh went to Navrongo Secondary School

He later proceeded to 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 (GIMPA) and obtained an executive master’s degree in Public Administration.

Mr. Addai-Nimoh is a development planner and civil engineer.

He is a former MP for Mampong in the Ashanti Region and contested the NPP’s presidential primary in 2014 ahead of the 2016 elections and placed third.

He is married with three children.

Konadu Apraku

Dr. Kofi Konadu Apraku was born on September 7, 1954 at Akumadan in the Ashanti region.

He attended Tweneboa Kodua Secondary School between 1967 and 1972 and furthered his education in South Albany High School in Oregon in the United States, after winning an AFS International essay competition.

There he studied for an economics degrees at the Oregon State University, where he also pursued a doctorate in the subject.

After the 2000 elections, Dr. Apraku was appointed by President Kufuor as the Minister of Trade and Industry. He was the Minister of Regional Cooperation and NEPAD between 2003-2005.

Dr Apraku was also a member of the Second, Third and Fourth Parliaments of the Fourth Republic.

He was among the 17 aspirants who contested the flagbearer slot of the NPP in 2007 ahead of the 2008 elections.

Boakye Agyarko

Mr. Boakye Kyeremanteng Agyarko was born in 1956 at Kumasi in the Ashanti Region.

He attended Mfantsipim School in Cape Coast for his secondary education.

He later proceeded to the University of Ghana where he obtained his Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics and Political Science.

He is said to have 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 in New York.

Mr Agyarko is a banker, economist, and former Minister of Energy.

He was appointed National Campaign Manager of the NPP in the 2012 presidential election and Policy Adviser to the presidential candidate of the NPP during the 2016 elections.

He was however relieved of his duty as Minister in August 2018.

Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia

Born on October 7, 1963, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia is the current Vice President of the Republic of Ghana.

He holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Economics from Buckingham University, UK, a Master of Science Degree in Development Economics from Oxford University, UK and a Ph.D. in Economics from Simon Fraser University, Canada.

He was a Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana until his selection as the running mate of the NPP’s presidential candidate, Nana Akufo-Addo, in the 2008 elections. He was maintained as the running mate for three consecutive times.

He was the lead witness for the petitioners in the 2012 Presidential Election Petition, which challenged the declaration of John Mahama as the winner of Ghana’s 2012 presidential election.

Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia is married to Samira Bawumia. He is blessed with four children  

Source: Myjoyonline.com