He is the Member of Parliament for Korle Klottey and is also the former minister for employment and labour relations in the Ghanaian government.
Ashietey studied at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology at Kumasi, the capital of the Ashanti Region of Ghana.
He worked as the chief executive officer of Ocerec Company Limited in Accra before going into politics.
He joined the National Democratic Congress and stood on their ticket in the Ghanaian general election in December 2004, losing narrowly to the New Patriotic Party candidate Nii Adu Daku Mante.
After John Dramani Mahama won the Ghanaian general election in December 2012, he was appointed as the new minister for employment and labour relations.