William Agyapong Quaitoo (born September 11, 1966 in Akim Gyadam) is a

Ghanaian Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in Ghana–Ivory Coast border, the west, Burkina ...

politician. He served as a member of parliament for Akim Oda Constituency, Eastern Region in the 7th Parliament. He was appointed Deputy Minister of Agriculture in 2013. He is the Chief executive officer of the Tree Crops Development Authority.

Early life and education

Quaitoo was born on 11 September 1966 and hails from Akim Gyadam in the Eastern Region of Ghana. He attended Kalpohin Primary School in

Tamale A tamale, in Spanish tamal, is a traditional Mesoamerican dish made of masa, a dough made from nixtamalized corn, which is steamed in a corn husk or banana leaf. The wrapping can either be discarded prior to eating or used as a plate. Tamale ...

, Yoo Roman Catholic Primary School in Savelugu and the Vitting Experimental Junior Secondary School in Tamale all in the Northern Region of Ghana. He attended

Ghana Secondary Technical School The Ghana Secondary Technical School is a science and technology-oriented high school located in Takoradi on the west coast of Ghana. It is the third oldest high school in Ghana - the oldest 'non-missionary' high school. The School was founded ...

for his GCE 'O' Level in

Takoradi Sekondi-Takoradi is a city in Ghana comprising the twin cities of Sekondi and Takoradi. It is the capital of Sekondi – Takoradi Metropolitan Assembly and the Western Region of Ghana. Sekondi-Takoradi is the region's largest city and an indus ...

and Oda Secondary School for his GCE 'A' Level in Akim Oda. He studied at Galilee College in Israel where he obtained a Diploma in Agribusiness, Export and Marketing Management. He attended the

University of Cape Coast The University of Cape Coast is a public collegiate university located in the historic town of Cape Coast. The campus has a rare seafront and sits on a hill overlooking the wide Atlantic Ocean. It operates on two campuses: the Southern Campus (O ...

where he graduated with a BSC (HONS) in Chemistry and Diploma in Education. He also has an MBA from the

University of Ghana The University of Ghana is a public university located in Accra, Ghana. It the oldest and largest of the thirteen Ghanaian national public universities. The university was founded in 1948 as the University College of the Gold Coast in the Br ...

Career

Quaitoo started his career in 2000 when he was appointed Market Development Manager of OIC International. He served as manager of the establishment till 2002. In 2002, he was appointed Programmes Manager of Enterprise Works, Ghana where he worked in that position till 2006. In late 2006, he was offered another appointment as Manager of

Ghana Cocoa Board The Ghana Cocoa Board (COCOBOD) is a Ghanaian government-controlled institution that fixes the buying price for cocoa in Ghana. Farmers are protected from the volatile prices on the world market through the price-fixing. Besides the higher quality ...

until 2012.

Politics

Quaitoo is a member of the New Patriotic Party. He is the former Member of Parliament for Akim Oda Constituency. In 2020 during the NPP parliamentary primaries he lost his seat to Alexander Ackum.

2012 election

In the

2012 Ghanaian general election General elections were held in Ghana on Friday 7 December 2012 to elect a president and members of Parliament in 275 electoral constituencies. Owing to the breakdown of some biometric verification machines, some voters could not vote, and voting ...

, he won the Akim Oda Constituency parliamentary seat with 18,982 votes making 62.74% of the total votes cast whilst the NDC parliamentary candidate Kwabena Nkansah Asare had 6,315 votes making 20.87% of the total votes cast, the PPP parliamentary candidate Kofi Asamoah-Siaw had 782 votes making 2.58% of the total votes cast, the

NDP NDP may stand for: Computing * Neighbor Discovery Protocol, an Internet protocol * Nortel Discovery Protocol, a layer two Internet protocol, also called SONMP * Nondeterministic programming, a type of computer language Government * National Deve ...

parliamentary candidate Aninakwah Joshua Kwabena had 278 votes making 0.92% of the total votes cast, an Independent parliamentary candidate Baa Abora had 1,626 votes making 5.37% of the total votes cast and another Independent parliamentary candidate Augustus Ennin Attafuah had 1,993 votes making 6.59% of the total votes.

2016 election

In the

2016 Ghanaian general election General elections were held in Ghana on 7 December 2016 to elect a President and Members of Parliament. They had originally been scheduled for 7 November 2016, but the date was later rejected by Parliament. Former foreign minister Nana Akufo-Ad ...

, he again won the Akim Oda Constituency parliamentary seat with 21,131 votes making 73.4% of the total votes cast whilst the NDC parliamentary candidate Kwabena Nkansah Asare had 6,892 votes making 23.9% of the total votes cast, the PPP parliamentary candidate Baa Abora had 599 votes making 2.1% of the total votes cast and the CPP parliamentary candidate George Owusu Agyemang had 161 votes making 0.6% of the total votes cast.

Committee

Quaitoo was the Chairman of the Parliamentary Select Committee on Education.

Resignation as Deputy Minister

In August 2017, Quaitoo made some ethnocentric comments about people in the Northern region of

Ghana Ghana (; tw, Gaana, ee, Gana), officially the Republic of Ghana, is a country in West Africa. It abuts the Gulf of Guinea and the Atlantic Ocean to the south, sharing borders with Ivory Coast in the west, Burkina Faso in the north, and To ...

. In his statement he said "''Our brothers n northern Ghana it is so difficult to deal with them. I lived there for 27 years, I speak Dagbani like a Dagomba and all that. They are very difficult people. Nobody can substantiate. If anybody says that his farm was destroyed by armyworm, the person would have to come and prove it. We have no records of that. It's just a way of taking money from the government; that's what they do all the time.''" After his comment, members of the general public called for his resignation condemning the comments as being tribalistic. Following his call for resignation, on August 29, 2017 he resigned officially from his office as Deputy Minister of Agriculture. He was succeeded by Kennedy Osei Nyarko.

Personal life

Quaitoo is married with five children. He is a Christian and worships as a Baptist. He speaks English, Twi, Dagbani, Hausa and Ga.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Quaitoo, William 1966 births Living people People from Eastern Region (Ghana) University of Cape Coast alumni University of Ghana alumni Ghanaian MPs 2017–2021 Ghanaian MPs 2013–2017