Bawumia proposes former Minister for Education as running mate
According to news reports, the vice president and flagbearer of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dr Mahamudu Bawumia has proposed former Education Minister, Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh, also known as NAPO, as his running mate to President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo.
Sources familiar with the development say a meeting was convened on Tuesday night where Dr Bawumia sought advice from President Nana Akufo-Addo regarding his choice of a running mate for the 2024 general election.
Before this latest development, several names had been tipped as potential running mates for Dr Mahamudu Bawumia’s bid, but that of the Minister for Energy, Dr Opoku Prempeh, aka ‘NAPO’ [Nana Poku], was widespread.
Other names were Minister for Education, Dr Yaw Osei Adutwum, Chief of Staff, Frema Osei Opare, Irene Naa Torshie Addo, and Ursula Owusu Ekuful, among others.
In presenting NAPO’s name to the President, Dr Bawumia highlighted that the chosen candidate is a 56-year-old medical doctor who earned his degree from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST).
First elected to Parliament in 2008 and has since been re-elected in 2012, 2016, and 2020. Dr Bawumia further noted that NAPO has served on the Health Appointment and Defence and Interior Committees of Parliament and was appointed as Education Minister in 2017.
Profile of Mathew Opoku Prempeh
Matthew Opoku Prempeh, born 23 May 1968 is the current Minister of Energy and represents Manhyia South constituency in Kumasi.
He started his basic education at KNUST Primary and continued to Prempeh College in Kumasi, Ashanti Region of Ghana, for his middle school education.
He studied Human Biology and Medicine at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) and completed his MB CHB in 1994.
He continued with post-graduate studies in MSc. Clinical Epidemiology at the Netherlands Institute of Health Sciences in 1998 and at the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard University where he studied Leadership and Government(certificate course). In 2002, he pursued postgraduate training in surgery in the UK (MRCS).
Prior to parliament, he served as CEO of Keyedmap Security Services Limited from 2004 to 2009 and as a member of the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of the United Kingdom from 1999 to 2003. He is also a medical doctor/ health work.
He was appointed by President Nana Akufo-Addo on 10 January 2017 to serve as Minister for Education in Ghana. He served in that role for 4 years until 6 January 2021 when the tenure of the president and his ministers ended.
Prempeh contributed to the educational sector such as improving the infrastructure, promoting vocational and technical education (TVET), and leading the government’s flagship Free Senior High School programme.
He was adjudged the best Minister in Ghana in 2017 and 2019. He was also the recipient of the 2020 Harvard Ministerial Medal of Achievement. In May 2021, the University of Education Winneba conferred on him an Honorary Doctorate Degree.
In 2021, His Excellency Nana Akuffo-Addo, after being re-elected as President, named Dr. Mattew Opoku Prempeh as Minister of Energy after he had previously served as the Minister of Education for President Nana Akuffo-Addo’s first term.