The Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia has paid tribute to former Old Tafo Member of Parliament, Dr. Anthony Akoto Osei.
In a social media post to eulogize the former Minister of Monitoring and Evaluation, Dr. Bawumia described the death as a ‘complete shock’.
Dr. Akoto Osei died on Monday, March 20, 2023.
He was the Member of Parliament for Old Tafo Constituency for 16 years and the Minister of Monitoring and Evaluation during President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo’s first term, from 2017 to 2021.
“His dedication to serving mother Ghana was unpaired and his fidelity to the country’s development was unquestionable”, the Vice President also wrote.
Describing the late lawmaker as his bosom friend, Dr. Bawumia reminisced how he worked closely with Dr. Akoto Osei as Vice President and during his time as Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana.
Osei worked as deputy minister for Finance and Economic Planning in May 2003 and was a major economic adviser to the government.
He was elevated to substantive Minister for Finance and Economic Planning after the death of the then Minister Kwadwo Baah Wiredu.
He served in that role until 6 January 2009 when the government was handed over to the National Democratic Congress which had won the 2008 General Elections.
In February 2017, Osei was sworn in as Minister of Monitoring and Evaluation after being nominated by President Nana Akufo-Addo and going through the vetting process in the parliament of Ghana.
The ministry of Monitoring and Evaluation was a newly created Ministry to evaluate, monitor and plan review summits and forums in fulfilment of the government’s policies on evaluating the progress of its own ministries.
In May 2017, President Nana Akufo-Addo named Anthony Akoto Osei as part 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 Speaker of the House, Rt. Hon. Prof. Mike Ocquaye.
As a Cabinet minister, Anthony Akoto Osei was part of the inner circle of the president and aided in key decision-making activities in the country.
