NPP National Council affirms Dr. Mathew Opoku Prempeh as Running mate
The National Council of the New Patriotic Party has affirmed the running mate choice of the Flagbearer Dr. Mathew Opoku Prempeh.
The decision was arrived at after almost three hours of meetings by the National Executive Committee and the National Council.
This brings to closure months of speculation among party members.
Profile
Matthew Opoku Prempeh (born 23 May 1968) is a Ghanaian medical doctor and politician. He is a member of the New Patriotic Party and a Member of Parliament for Manhyia South Constituency in the Ashanti Region of Ghana. He is a former Minister of Education.H e is popularly known as NAPO.As a Ghanaian parliamentarian, he represents Manhyia South in Kumasi, formerly representing Manhyia. He was first elected to parliament in 2008 and is a member of the New Patriotic Party. In 2016, he was re-elected with 35,958 votes, or 87.17% of the votes cast in the district. He was a member of the health committee and the appointments committee. Prempeh contested the 2020 Ghanaian general election as a parliamentary candidate for the Manhyia South constituency under the banner of the New Patriotic Party and won by a large margin.
Minister of Education
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.
In May 2017, President Nana Akufo-Addo named Prempeh as one of the nineteen ministers who would form his cabinet. The names of the 19 ministers were submitted to the Parliament of Ghana and announced by the former Speaker of the House, Mike Ocquaye. As a Cabinet minister, Prempeh was part of the inner circle of the president and was to aid in key decision-making activities in the country.
Prempeh also contributed to the educational sector of Ghana as a Minister of Education, such as improving the infrastructure,promoting vocational and technical education (TVET), and leading the government’s flagship programme ”FREE SHS’‘
Minister of Energy
In 2021, the President of Ghana, Nana Akuffo-Addo, after being re-elected as President, named Dr. Mattew Opoku Prempeh as Minister of Energy.
He had previously served as the Minister of Education for President Nana Akuffo-Addo’s first term.
Committee
Prempeh is a member of the Defense and Interior Committee and also of the Appointments Committee.
In May 2021, the University of Education Winneba conferred on him an Honorary Doctorate Degree.
In July 2021, the University of Professional Studies also awarded him an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters.
As a member of the Parliament of Ghana, he represents Manhyia South in Kumasi, formerly representing Manhyia.
The University of Cape Coast is the latest institution to recognize Dr. Prempeh’s contributions to the development of Ghana and his immense service to the University of Cape Coast, Ghana.
In May 2022, a group by the name of Friends of NAPO presented some educational materials to schools in the Manhyia South Constituency to mark his 54th birthday.
Prempeh College named a dormitory block after him on 17 June 2023
Election 2024
Ahead of the 2024 General Elections, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, who was the incumbent Vice President of Ghana and elected Flag bearer to contest for Presidency on the ticket of the New Patriotic Party, presented Matthew Opoku Prempeh as his preferred choice of running mate, subject to clearance from the party hierachy.
