As the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) National Chairmanship race heats up, broadcast journalist, lecturer and author Abdul Hayi Moomen has argued that Awentami Paul Afoko is best placed among the candidates to unite a divided party.
In an opinion piece circulating ahead of the contest, Moomen argues that the key question for delegates should not be who has the most impressive résumé, but who can unite the NPP at this point in its history.
He believes Afoko is best suited for the task, not because he is without flaws, but because his history within the party uniquely positions him to lead a reconciliation process.
“Afoko represents an opportunity for the NPP to close an old chapter,” Moomen writes, describing Afoko’s return as a chance for the party to demonstrate that it can heal internal rifts rather than allow them to develop into permanent divisions.
In his view, Afoko’s return could be a necessary step towards rebuilding the party’s credibility and eventually asking Ghanaians to trust it with power again.
Moomen noted that Afoko’s rise to the National Chairmanship and subsequent removal during one of the most turbulent periods in the party’s recent history were followed by what he described as Afoko’s deliberate decision not to turn against the NPP.
Rather than granting hostile interviews or working against the party from outside, Moomen said Afoko remained with the NPP and kept his own counsel, describing the decision as a mark of maturity rather than weakness.
According to him, these qualities make Afoko well positioned to lead reconciliation efforts within the party.
Having experienced both the highest levels of party leadership and rejection by the same institution, Moomen believes Afoko understands the cost of factionalism from within and could help bring both prominent figures and long-sidelined loyalists back into the fold.
He also challenged an argument reportedly circulating among some delegates that because the NPP’s presidential candidate, Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, comes from northern Ghana, the National Chairman should not also come from the north.
Moomen dismissed the argument on two grounds.
First, he noted that Bawumia and Afoko do not belong to the same ethnic group, stressing that northern Ghana comprises several distinct ethnic communities rather than a single bloc.
Second, he argued that for most of the NPP’s history before 2020, both the presidential candidate and National Chairman were southerners, without geographical considerations being treated as a structural problem for the party.
Moomen’s position places reconciliation and internal cohesion at the centre of the NPP’s leadership contest, with Afoko presented as a candidate whose personal experience could help the party confront and close what he describes as one of its darkest chapters.
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