Desmond De-Graft Paitoo

Desmond De-Graft Paitoo is a Ghanaian freight forwarder and the National Democratic Congress Member of Parliament for Gomoa East in the Central Region. He was born on 21 August 1969 at Gomoa Dasum. He lost the seat at his first attempt in 2016, won it by just 764 votes in 2020, and in 2024 turned it into one of the NDC's safer seats in the region.

From mechanics to logistics

Paitoo took the long route through education. He finished middle school in 1987 and earned a City and Guilds Intermediate certificate in mechanical engineering in 1991. His working life, though, was in shipping. He became a licensed freight forwarder and set up Desreen Shipping and Logistics, which he runs as chief executive, clearing and moving goods through Ghana's ports.

He went back to school in mid-career. In 2018 he completed a degree in supply chain management, specialising in procurement, at Methodist University College, and he later earned a master's degree at the Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration.

Three contests for Gomoa East

Gomoa East, a fast-growing constituency along the Accra to Winneba road, was held by the New Patriotic Party's Kojo Asemanyi when Paitoo first stood in 2016. He lost that race with 15,010 votes, about 42.5 per cent.

In the 2020 rematch he beat Asemanyi with 36,637 votes (49.5 per cent) to 35,873 (48.4 per cent), a margin of 764. He took his seat on 7 January 2021 and served in the Eighth Parliament on the House Committee and the Food, Agriculture and Cocoa Affairs Committee.

The 2024 election was far more comfortable. Paitoo polled 33,806 votes to Asemanyi's 25,421, a lead of more than 8,000, as the NDC took 18 of the Central Region's 23 seats. He began his second term in January 2025, this time on the government side.

Constituency work

Much of his local work has focused on basic services. In January 2022, for example, he pledged support for building a health facility at Dampase. He is active on social media under the handle @HonPaitoo, where he posts updates on projects and parliamentary business.