The New Patriotic Party (NPP) super delegates congress would take place on August 26, 2023, to reduce the number of persons who want to become the party's presidential candidate for the 2024 general elections from ten to five.
All ten contenders have hit the ground running, campaigning across the length and breadth of Ghana for the delegates of the party in the various regions to make them one of the top five for the main primaries, which is slated for November 4, 2023.
This article looks at a brief profile of all the contenders to give an idea of their competencies and their experiences.
Here is a brief profile of all the contenders in the NPP primaries:
Kennedy Ohene Agyapong:
Age/Date of Birth: June 16, 1960
Wife: Stella Wilson Agyapong
Number of Children 22
Religion: Christian
Home Region/Regions: Central Region
Educational Qualification: B.A (Economics) from the Fordham University, New York, USA
Profession(s): Politician and business tycoon
Political position(s) held: Member for Parliament for Assin Central (for the 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th Parliament of Ghana).
Non-political position(s) held: Owner of Oman F.M, Ash F.M, Net 2 TV, Super Care Company Limited (Air Conditioners Dealer), Mina D’oro Ventures, M/S Imperial World Business Limited, Gold Coin Communication, among others.
Alan Kyerematen
Age/Date of Birth: October 3, 1955
Wife: Patricia Christabel Kyerematen
Number of Children: 2
Home region: Ashanti Region
Religion: Christian
Qualification: LLB from the Ghana Law School Makola Accra; Hubert Humphrey’s Fellow of the School of Management at the University of Minnesota, USA; and bachelor’s degree in Economics from the University of Ghana, Legon.
Profession(s):Lawyer, economist, politician and diplomat
Political position(s) held: Cabinet Minister with responsibility for Trade, Industry, and the President's Special Initiatives (PSI); Minister of Trade and Industry; Ghana's Ambassador to the U.S; Head of Ghana's Diplomatic Mission to the United States of America, among others.
Non-political position(s) held: Senior corporate executive of UAC Ghana Ltd, a subsidiary of Unilever International; Trade advisor at the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (ECA); Principal Consultant and Head of Public Systems Management of the Management Development and Productivity Institute; first Regional Director of Enterprise Africa, established and managed the EMPRETEC Programme in Ghana; Special Envoy of the African Union; Founding Chairman of the Centre for Strategic African Initiatives, Accra, Chairman; and Founding partner John Young and Associates and a coordinator for the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (African Trade Policy Centre) Addis Ababa Ethiopia, among others.
Joe Ghartey:
Age/Date of Birth: June 15, 1961
Wife: Efua Ghartey
Number of Children 5
Home region: Western Region
Religion: Christian
Qualification:Bachelor of Law from the University of Ghana, LLB Law from the Ghana Law School.
Profession(s):Politician and lawyer
Political position(s) held: Member of Parliament for Essikado-Ketan Constituency (for the 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th Parliaments of Ghana), Minister for Railway Development, 2nd Deputy Speaker of Parliament, Attorney General and Minister of Justice and Deputy Attorney General and Minister of Justice.
Non-political position(s) held: Co-founder of Ghartey & Ghartey; Senior Partner at Ghartey & Ghartey; and Chair of the Inter African Network of Human Rights Organizations.
Kwadwo Nsafoah Poku:
Age/Date of Birth: Believed to be in his 40s
Wife: N/A
Number of Children: N/A
Home region: Ashanti
Religion: Christian
Qualification: Civil Engineering (B.Eng) at City University, London.
Profession(s): Politician and Engineer
Political position(s) held: Special Assistant to Ghana’s Minister of Tourism
Non-political position(s) held: Managing Director of Gasop Oil; managing director of Ghana Limited; CEO of FKP & Rald Investment Limited, Engineer at Dan Technology PLC, Executive Director, Small Hydro Development Company Limited (SHDC), among others.
Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto
Age/Date of Birth: October 19, 1949
Wife: Married
Number of Children Eight
Home region: Ashanti
Religion: Christian
Qualification: Bachelor of Science Agriculture, University of Ghana; Master of Science in Agricultural Economics, Cambridge University; Doctor of Philosophy form Cambridge University
Profession(s): Politician and economist
Political position(s) held: Member of Parliament for Kwadaso (between 2009 and 2017); Minister for Food and Agriculture.
Non-political position(s) held: Economist, senior economist, principal economist, and chief economic advisor at International Coffee Organization; Consultant to the World Bank; CEO of Goldcrest Commodities Limited and Plantation Resources Limited
Kwabena Agyei Agyepong:
Age/Date of Birth: March 6, 1962
Wife: Dr Lawrencia Agyepong
Number of Children 3
Home region: Ashanti Region
Religion: Christian
Qualification: Civil Engineering from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Master’s Degree in Environmental Engineering from the University of Surrey, UK
Profession(s): Journalist, engineer and politician
Political position(s) held: Press Secretary to the President of Ghana John Kufuor; NPP General Secretary
Non-political position(s) held: Owns a civil engineering firm, Constro Consult Limited; hosted sports programmes at the Ghana Broadcasting Corporation; Worked as Civil Engineer at Ghana Highway Authority; Executive Director Ghana Institution of Engineering GhIE; Executive Director of West Africa Federation of Engineering Organizations WAFEO; Fellow of GhIE; Member of American Society of Civil Engineers M.ASCE; Member of the World Federation of Engineering Organizations (WFEO) Committee on Engineering and Environment (CEE)
Francis Addai Nimo:
Age/Date of Birth: March 23, 1965
Wife: Married
Number of Children: 3
Home region: Ashanti Region
Religion: Christian
Qualification: Civil Engineering from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology; Executive Master's degree in Public Administration from the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration
Profession(s): Development planner, civil engineer and politician
Political position(s) held: Member of Parliament of Mampong (between 2008 and 2016)
Non-political position(s) held: Senior Engineer, Ministry of Transportation; managing director of Franstan Limited.
Dr. Kofi Konadu Apraku:
Age/Date of Birth: September 7, 2023
Wife: N/A
Number of Children N/A
Home region: Ashanti Region
Religion: Christian
Qualification: Economics degrees at the Oregon State University; Doctorate degree in economics.
Profession(s): Politician and economist
Political position(s) held: Minister for Regional Cooperation and NEPAD; the Minister of Trade and Industry; Member of Parliament for Offinso North (from 1997 to 2009)
Non-political position(s) held: ECOWAS Commissioner for Macroeconomic Policy and Economic Research. He has also worked at the World Bank, the International Monetary Fund [IMF], African Development Bank.
Boakye Agyarko:
Age/Date of Birth: Born in 1956
Wife: Divorced
Number of Children 2
Home region: Ashanti Region
Religion: Christian
Qualification: Bachelor of Arts degree in Economics and Political Science from the University of Ghana; an Advanced Professional Certificate in Banking from the American Institute of Banking and a Master of Business Administration in Financial Economics from Pace University, New York.
Profession(s): Economist, politician and a former banker
Political position(s) held: National Coordinator for the Ghana Union of Students and Youth Associations, Minister for Energy
Non-political position(s) held: Rose to be the vice president of the Bank of New York after serving in serval positions including Operations Management and Analysis, Product Development; Global Network Management, International Banking and Asset Management, and the Year 2000 (Y2K) Management Group.
Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia:
Age/Date of Birth: October 7, 1963
Wife: Samira Bawumia
Number of Children: 4
Home region: North East Region
Religion:: Muslim
Qualification: Associate of the Chartered Institute of Bankers (U.K). (ACIB); a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Bankers (FCIB), Ghana; BSc. Economics degree from the University of Buckingham, UK, a Masters degree in Development Economics from Oxford University (Lincoln College), and a PhD in Economics from Simon Fraser University (Canada).
Profession(s): Economist, banker and politician
Political position(s) held: Vice President of Ghana
Non-political position(s) held: Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana, resident representative for the African Development Bank in Zimbabwe; visiting scholar at the University of British Columbia (Canada); a Senior Associate Member of St. Antony’s College, University of Oxford; visiting professor of Economic Governance at Central University, Ghana; and Assistant Professor of Economics at Hankamer School of Business, Baylor University, Texas, USA