Former National Chairman of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), Paul Afoko, has officially declared his intention to contest again for the position of National Chairman when nominations are opened.
Mr Afoko cited what he described as the “painful decline” of the party’s fortunes and the urgent need to rebuild and reunite the NPP ahead of the next general elections.
Addressing regional executives, members of the Council of Elders and Council of Patrons during a meeting in the Greater Accra Region, on Thursday, May 21, Mr. Afoko said the current state of the NPP is “not the best” and warned that the party cannot afford to remain complacent after suffering significant electoral losses across the country.
“I sat back and looked at what is going on in the party and what has happened to the party at the last elections, and anybody who loves this party will not be happy,” he stated.
Mr. Afoko said his decision to return to frontline party politics was driven by a desire to help restore the NPP’s electoral strength and internal unity.
“I am officially coming to inform you that I would want to contest for the position of National Chairman again when the nominations open,” he announced.
The former chairman noted that although he had remained largely silent since the party returned to power in 2017, he had continued to follow developments closely and support the party quietly behind the scenes.
According to him, the NPP’s decline from securing 169 parliamentary seats in the 2016 elections to its current 87 seats is deeply troubling and required deliberate action to reverse.
“It’s painful, very painful,” he stressed, pointing to the party’s poor performance in its traditional strongholds as well as in the northern regions, where he said the NPP had virtually been “wiped out.”
Mr. Afoko rejected attempts to place blame for the party’s electoral setbacks on a single individual, including former Vice President and 2024 presidential candidate, Mahamudu Bawumia.
“I told him, don’t blame yourself. We all have to share that blame because on the presidential front, yes, the votes went down, but that was because Ghanaians were no longer listening to us,” he said.
Outlining his vision for the party, Mr. Afoko introduced what he termed the “Three Rs” agenda “Reunite, Rebuild and Recapture.”
He explained that the first task is to reunite party faithful who had become divided along factional lines, arguing that internal disunity and voter apathy significantly contributed to the NPP’s electoral losses.
“We are NPP, and if we don’t unite, we will not see power,” he stated.
On rebuilding the party, Mr. Afoko emphasized the need to strengthen grassroots structures, improve communication, and revive internal training and organizational systems that he said previously contributed to the party’s success.
He also criticized the party’s communication machinery while in government, claiming many achievements of the administration were not effectively communicated to the public.
“We didn’t communicate. We just sat there and thought because we were in power, people should know what we were doing,” he said.
Mr. Afoko further assured party executives that he possessed the capacity to mobilize resources for the NPP while in opposition, recalling his role in strengthening constituency structures and supporting parliamentary campaigns during his previous tenure as chairman.
Calling for support from party executives and grassroots members, he said the ultimate objective is to return the NPP to power to implement policies that would positively impact Ghanaians.
“We want power not for the sake of power, but for its ability to positively affect the lives of our people and change the direction of our country positively,” he said.
He concluded by appealing for prayers and support from party faithful as he embarks on his campaign to reclaim the chairmanship position.
“I hope this time I will not only see the promised land, I will also enter it with you,” he declared.
