Former Energy Minister, Boakye Agyarko, has reportedly declared his intent to run for the 2024 presidential ticket of the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP),
News sources quoted him as saying he is “fit for purpose.”
“In 2008, I was a contestant, one of the 17. I stayed to pay my dues. I consider myself fit for purpose and so I will not resale from that ambition or that objective. But at the end of the day it is for the grassroots to decide,” he is quoted.
Agyarko joins the likes of Vice President Mahamudu Bawumia, Trade Minister Alan Kwadwo Kyeremanteng and Agric Minister, Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto who have been tipped as the frontliners for the NPP presidential ticket in 2024.
Meanwhile, Agyarko was President Akufo-Addo’s Energy Minister from 2017 until he was fired in 2018 over the Ameri renegotiated power agreement.
The move by the government toextend the five-year deal with Africa and Middle East Resources Investment Group (AMERI) Energy which was then operating a 300MW emergency power plant in Ghana for 15 years and bring on board a new company from Greece, Mytilineous International Trading Company, to manage the plant for the period, blew back badly.
Even though the Akufo-Addo, had by the move, been posturing to fulfil its campaign promise from opposition to renegotiate the AMERI deal because it was supposedly expensive, it turned out that the supposed renegotiation was souped in corruption.
In the end, the new negotiation was going to cost Ghana even more money – the government was going to be paying $1.375 billion for the AMERI power plant over approximately 15 years instead of the original $510 million.
President had signed the deal and Okayed it, but when civil society organizations, including IMANI Ghana, pointed out the degeneration of conditionalities, President Akufo-Addo quickly resorted to plausible deniability, claiming he had been misled by Agyarko to sign the deal.
Agyarko was thrown under the bus with a sack letter. The man had promised to give his side of the matter later but never did.
Again, when Akufo-Addo got a second term in office and was appointing Ministers, it was half expected that Agyarko would be re-appointed a Minister, but Mr. Akufo-Addo completely ignored him