Oforikrom MP Blasts Gov’t: Nkoko Nkitinkiti Is a GH¢200m Failure Feeding Party Foot Soldiers

The Member of Parliament for Oforikrom, Michael Kwasi Aidoo, has launched a scathing attack on the government’s Nkoko Nkitinkiti poultry initiative, declaring it a programme that “failed from the start” despite swallowing over GH¢200 million of public funds.

His criticism follows Agriculture Minister Eric Opoku’s appeal to beneficiaries to treat the birds as a business and sell most of them rather than consuming them.

Speaking on Eyewitness News on Friday, July 17, Aidoo argued that the programme’s core objective should have been boosting local poultry production and cutting imports, not encouraging consumption.

“If that is the reason for doing the Nkoko Nkitinkiti programme and spending over GH¢200 million, then I would say the programme is a failure from the start,” he said.

According to him, Ghana’s real poultry crisis is not low consumption but massive dependence on imported chicken, with the country bringing in about US$600 million worth of poultry every year. He insisted that government support should target existing farmers and attract new investors into the sector.

“The issue we have here is that there is too much importation of poultry. Every government is looking at how we can reduce the importation of poultry and increase production locally,” he stated.

Aidoo accused the government of politicising the initiative, alleging that birds were distributed through district assemblies to supporters of the governing NDC. As a result, many beneficiaries viewed the birds as political rewards rather than business assets — leading to widespread consumption instead of production.

“The programme that was meant to increase poultry production has now become a programme that is feeding party supporters,” he alleged.

He argued that the GH¢200 million could have been better used to create a financing scheme for poultry farmers, offering low‑interest loans through banks to expand production.

“That amount could have been channelled into supporting existing poultry farmers and identifying new farmers who want to go into the business with well-laid-out plans that can bring results,” he said.

Aidoo also criticised the programme’s implementation, saying many beneficiaries lacked technical knowledge and received little or no training or extension support. Some struggled to feed the birds and ended up consuming them, while others had no ready market for their produce.

The Minority MP maintained that government resources should be invested in training, financing, technology and infrastructure to build a resilient poultry industry capable of reducing imports and boosting local production — not in distributing birds directly to individuals.