The Member of Parliament (MP) for the good people of Essikado-Ketan Costituency in the Western Region Of Ghana, Hon Joe Ghartey, has officially informed President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo of his intention to contest in the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Presidential primaries slated for the latter part of this year.

Hon Ghartey, a former Attorney-General and Minister of Justice paid a courtesy call on the President at the Jubilee House, in Accra, to inform him of his Presidential ambition.

Speaking in an interview, Mr Ghartey disclosed that the call afforded him the opportunity to, among other things, thank the President for the confidence reposed in him during his first term of office when he found him worthy of serving as the Minister of Railways Development.

Mr Ghartey assured the President that he and his team would run a decent campaign for the position, and work hard for the party to retain power with regards to the 2024 elections.

The lawmaker made it clear that he would take immediate action if any member of his team became wayward and attacked others unnecessarily. He thanked the President for taking time off his busy schedule to meet with him and wished him and the Government well.

President Akufo-Addo wished Mr Ghartey well saying; his desire is to ensure that NPP retained power in 2024 and beyond. He indicated that his role is to ensure a fair playing field and is prepared to support anyone who emerges victorious in the primaries while calling for a decent campaign.

I will Appoint 60 Ministers When Elected President

The New Patriotic Party flagbearer aspirant, recently revealed that, he will appoint 60 Ministers if he is elected as President of Ghana.

According to him, his government will have a maximum of 60 Ministers, which would include 19 Cabinet Ministers and 16 Regional Ministers. This was in response to a question during an interview on the size of President Akufo Addo’s first-term government of 111 Ministers.

Mr Ghartey disagreeing with the suggestion that the Akufo-Addo government was bloated, indicated that President Akufo-Addo’s philosophy of the size of government led to 9% growth of the economy by the end of his first term.

The lawmaker, further explained that when he was Attorney-General in President Kufuor’s era, he asked President Kufuor why he was creating a Ministry of Aviation, when he was asked to draft the legal document that would create the new Ministry. He said that President Kufuor answered that, one of the ways a government focused on a particular sector was to isolate the sector and create a Ministry with a Minister in charge.

Mr Ghartey stated that this was what President Akufo-Addo had in mind when he created the Ministry of Railways Development and had it remained as part of the Ministry of Transport it may not have received the attention it received under President Akufo-Addo.

The former 2nd Deputy Speaker of Parliament disclosed that since independence, no era had seen so much construction in the railways sector with over 200 kilometers currently under construction. However, the Presidential Aspirant said he had a different philosophy and would have a much smaller government because of the current economic circumstances.

Mr. Ghartey further dismissed media reports claiming that he blamed the governing NPP for failing to execute the Accra Sky Train Project.

At the moment, three politicians from the ruling party have officially declared their intentions to contest for the Flagbearership position in the NPP Presidential Primaries. They include, Mr. John Alan Kyeremanten, Mr. Afriyie Akoto and Mr. Joe Ghartey