Asiedu Nketia

Hon. Asiedu Nketiah was born in Seikwa B/A, a village in the Wenchi Municipal District of the then Brong-Ahafo Region (now Bono Region) of Ghana on December 24,1956 to the late Nana Kwaku Asiedu, a farmer from the Oyoko Royal family and Madam Hagar Akosua Afrah of the Akwamu Royal family. He is the fifth child of the nine children. He is happily married to Mrs. Vida Adomah Asiedu Nketiah, and blessed with five (5) children: Amma Addae Nketiah, Kwaku Asiedu Nketiah, Yaa Asantewaa Nketiah, Afia Afra Nketiah and Kwame Boateng Nketia and seven grandchildren namely: Ariah Asiedu Nketiah, Kurtis Johnson Asiedu Nketiah, Valikem Nketiah Klugah, Bubune Adoma Klugah, Edzordzi Kofi Klugah, Charisse Amma Badoe, Idris-Rashad Wontia Neindow.

Mr Asiedu Nketiah had his basic education at Seikwa Presbyterian Primary School. He then proceeded to train as a teacher at St. Joseph’s College of Education in Bechem from 1974 to 1978 where he graduated a trainee teacher in 1978. At St Joseph’s College, he had to change his Christian name, John, to Johnson because at the time there were a number of students bearing the name John and also because he was only 17 years old and the youngest among his peers. He began his career as a professional teacher at Seketia Presby Primary in the Jaman North District[2] of the Bono region. While teaching at Seketia, he studied at home to sit for the GCE ‘O’ and ‘A’ level exams. He gained admission to the University of Ghana Business School[3] in 1983 to read a Bachelor of Science Degree in Business Administration (Banking and Finance option). He graduated with a Second Class Upper Honors. Nketiah was a member of the pioneer batch for a Post Graduate Training Programme in Stock Brokerage and Investment Analysis when the Ghana Stock Exchange[4] was introduced. He obtained a Master of Science Degree in Defense and International Politics from the Ghana Armed Forces Command College[5] in 2019, and his thesis was on Anti-Corruption infrastructure in the Fourth Republic of Ghana.

After graduating from University of Ghana, he was posted to GIHOC Distilleries Company Limited[6] for his national service where he was assigned to the marketing department as manager. Just after he had been offered a permanent job at GIHOC, a duty called from his hometown to lead the establishment of a rural bank which he had to heed to Bank of Ghana[7] then brought a regulation in the banking sector that required a banker to manage rural and commercial banks.

Nketia was then approached by the chiefs and people of his community to be the manager for the Nkoraman Rural Bank,[8] an offer he accepted. He was then posted to Sehwi Asawinso Rural Bank[9] as trainee manager by the Bank of Ghana as part of its professional training program for managers. During this period, the Ghana Stock Exchange was established, and he was nominated for the pioneer postgraduate training programme, mostly for bank managers, in stock brokerage and investment analysis. He opted to work for the National Trust Holding Company Limited (NTHC)[10] as a stockbroker and an investment banker until he was approached by his kinsmen to represent them at the Consultative Assembly.

Nketiah was called back to his village, Seikwa, to help run development there. Nketia contested the 1988 Wenchi District Assembly elections, won and was later nominated to the National Consultative Assembly.

He contested the Wenchi West seat and won as a Member of Parliament. He spent 12 years in Parliament and served on several committees, including Appointments Committee, Finance Committee, Public Accounts Committee, Chairman - Mines and Energy Committee, ranking MEMBER for Food and Agriculture and Cocoa Affairs Committee, Deputy Majority Chief Whip among others. While in Parliament, he also served as Deputy Minister for Food and Agriculture in charge of crops under the Jerry John Rawlings administration. It was during this period he piloted cashew, sunflower and cotton, and successfully commercialized sunflower and cashew cultivation in Ghana.

He was also a member of the Economic Management Team (EMT) from 1992 to 2001 that introduced the value-added tax in the country. Mr Asiedu Nketiah was nominated by the Parliament of the Republic of Ghana to be a member of the International Parliamentary Union from 1997 – 2005.

After a successful three terms in Parliament, he stepped down in 2005 to retire from active politics and join his family in Canada. At the party’s delegate congress in December 2005,[11] Nketiah won with over 80% of the votes, beating then acting General Secretary, Bede Ziedeng, Mr Sylvester Mensah and Mr Antwi Boasiako to become the 3rd General Secretary of the NDC. At a re-election contest held in Tamale in January 2010,[12] he was delivered a 93% vote of confidence and repeated same feat in 2014[13] in Kumasi to retain his position as the General Secretary. His last contest was between himself and his deputy, Koku Anyidoho which he won with over 80 percent. He managed to repair cracks[14] in the party after it was sharply divided in 2006 due to the factionalism preceding the 2014 delegates Congress that led to the breakaway from the party of the Democratic Freedom party (DFP) by the National Chairman, Gen. Secretary, Women Organizer, some members of Parliament and other party stalwarts.

As General Secretary, he led the NDC from opposition as campaign manager to beat Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo Addo and his New Patriotic Party in the 2008 elections.[15] This was a period where he had to bring together the founder of the NDC, Jerry Rawlings and Flag bearer of the party, John Evans Atta Mills(Late) and running mate, John Dramani Mahama to form a three front campaign which ended up at his backyard in Tain.[16] He Chaired the NDC's Campaign for the 2012 and 2016 elections Reconciliation.In 2011, he re-engineered the merger[14] of the breakaway party (DFP) stalwarts prior to the 2008 elections to join the NDC. In 2012 when Prof John Atta Mills died[17] in office, leaving the NDC with only three months to get a new candidate for that year’s election, Mr Asiedu Nketiah, again led the NDC’s campaign as Chairman, without the support of President Jerry Rawlings and, also despite the former first Lady, Nana Konadu Agyemang Rawling’s breakaway[18] to form the National Democratic Party,[19] to retain power.

Hon Johnson Asiedu Nketiah with his wife and children

When the opposition leader, Nana Akufo Addo, and two others decided to contest results of the 2012 elections at the Supreme Court,[20] Nketiah represented both the NDC and former President John Mahama as principal witness[21] to affirm the latter's victory.

Between 2009 and 2017 when NDC was in power, he declined appointment to serve as an appointee of government. He later accepted to serve on the Board[22] of Bui Power Authority because the project was in his constituency and he wanted to see the successful completion of it.

In 2017, Mr Asiedu Nketiah was elected[23] Vice President of Socialist International in absentia at Cartagena to succeed the former Prime Minister of Portugal and current UN General Secretary, Antonio Gutarres. He was elected to serve under the current President of the Organization, George Papandroeu, who doubles as the Prime Minister of Greece.