New Patriotic Party (NPP) National Chairman hopeful, Paul Afoko, has stated that he has put past disagreements behind him and is focused on helping the party rebuild and return to power in the 2028 general elections.
According to Mr Afoko, the current state of the NPP requires committed members to actively participate in efforts to revive the party rather than remain on the sidelines.
“If you are a lover of the party, where it is now, you can’t watch from afar. Whatever happened in the past happened and I have let go. My focus is what is ahead of us,” he said.
Speaking in an interview on Asempa FM’s Ekosii Sen, Mr Afoko expressed concern about the NPP’s decline in parliamentary representation, noting that the party had moved from 169 seats to 137 and subsequently to 87 seats.
He said the development should concern every committed member of the party and called for deliberate efforts to reverse the trend.
“The party is in my blood. To watch the party go from 137 to 88 seats in Parliament, anyone watching this and watching the party will be worried. Thinking everything will be fine is wishful thinking. We need to do the work,” he said.
Mr Afoko explained that his decision to contest again for the National Chairman position was motivated by his belief that he has the experience and strategic thinking required to help the NPP regain power.
“I have my own strategic thinking. If you want power, you have to do what it takes for it to come to you,” he stated.
He also dismissed suggestions that his approach to party leadership would be driven by emotions, arguing that unity and discipline would be critical to the NPP’s revival.
“I am not selective. I don’t use emotions. In the 2016 elections, we got 169 seats in Parliament. When you work with emotions, there will be no unity. NPP is NPP and we need to work together as a unit,” he said.
Addressing the controversies surrounding his previous tenure, Mr Afoko maintained that allegations made against him were not supported by evidence.
He said his record demonstrated that he could be trusted to deliver on his commitments and expressed confidence in his ability to lead reforms within the party.
“Whatever allegations were against me, was there any proof? There was no evidence. Whatever I say I would do, I did. What I did in 2014, I can do it again to bring us back to power. I can be trusted. I have what it takes to reform and bring this party back to power,” he said.
Mr Afoko, however, acknowledged that he could not change the party’s fortunes alone and stressed the need for unity among members and factions.
“I can’t change the trajectory alone. Unity is what will work for us,” he said.
He therefore appealed to delegates to support him as a candidate who intends to serve the entire party rather than a particular faction.
“When they vote for me, I am coming as chairman of the party and not chairman for a particular faction in the party. We all want the same thing, which is to come back to power in 2028,” he stated.
Mr Afoko was elected National Chairman of the NPP in 2014 but was suspended by the party in October 2015, about a year after assuming office.
The NPP’s National Executive Committee (NEC) suspended him indefinitely following a recommendation from the party’s Disciplinary Committee after petitions were filed against him by some party members.
Despite the events surrounding his previous tenure, Mr Afoko says he has chosen to move on and is seeking a fresh mandate with the objective of helping the NPP rebuild, unite its members and return to government in 2028.
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