Minister for Food and Agriculture, Dr. Owusu Afriyie Akoto, has said that the transformation he has brought to the agriculture sector has made farmers in the country come to love him.
According to him, the farmers love him because, through his leadership, the government has resolved most of their challenges.
In a Hello FM interview, the minister added that farmers across the length and breadth of Ghana now see him as their saviour.
“Farmers are now my fun club; they are the ones I have worked for all over the country. If you go to every region, the farmers know that I am their messiah because I am the one who is making their work progress.
“I recently went to the forest regions, and my interaction with the farmers revealed to me that they are very happy with my work because of the investments the government has made for them.
“When this government came to power, farmers were making all kinds of demands, and every time they made the demand, I made sure that they got what they were asking for. So, they are happy about the work I have for them. It got to a time where they were even singling my praises – if I was not doing my work well, they will not be praised,” he said in Twi.
The minister has come under fire from some factions of the public for the hikes in food prices in Ghana.
They accuse the minister of not properly implementing the government’s Planting for Food and Jobs programme which has led to the food shortage in the country.
Others, including the Executive Director of the Media Foundation for West Africa, Sulemana Braima, have accused him of overestimating Ghana’s food production levels.
The minister has, however, stated that there is no food shortage in Ghana and that the hikes in food prices are a result of supply bottlenecks.
Watch the minister’s interview below: