Former Nationwide Chairman of the New Patriotic Get together (NPP), Paul Afoko, has come out of years of self-imposed exile to provide a scathing evaluation of the celebration’s present structural well being.
Talking at a closed-door consultative assembly with the NPP Larger Accra Regional Government Committee on Thursday, Might 21, 2026, the previous chairman warned that inner complacency had critically weakened the celebration’s electoral equipment.
Mr Afoko’s engagement is a part of a strategic nationwide tour geared toward consulting with grassroots leaders and regional influential figures forward of his anticipated full-fledged return to the entrance traces of celebration politics.
Confronting the regional management with shocking candor, Afoko mentioned the celebration might now not afford to stay in denial of structural collapse.
“We won’t sit again and say, oh, we’re nice. We misplaced lots of floor, lots of floor,” he mentioned flatly.
Afoko reminded executives of his institutional legacy, recalling the formidable and extremely organized operational plans developed throughout his quick and turbulent tenure as nationwide chairman. He argued that the strategic system constructed by the regime laid the important basis that finally propelled the celebration to energy.
“Since I used to be chairman, the crew I used to be elected with on the time, we have been capable of get all the things prepared for the overall elections,” Afoko recalled.
The previous chairman seemed again on the controversial termination of the celebration’s energy simply earlier than the fruits of his exhausting labor have been to be reaped, and used a Biblical analogy to precise the heartbreak of being sidelined getting ready to a historic victory.
“As I mentioned someplace yesterday, I noticed the promised land however I couldn’t get there. Everyone knows why. However that didn’t forestall me from being a member of the NPP and following the celebration carefully as a result of I really like the celebration,” he disclosed.
Mr Afoko spoke candidly about his lengthy absence from public life, describing his withdrawal from the media eye as a deeply calculated and painful however vital sacrifice to protect the celebration’s unity throughout its first years in energy.
“I’ve been silent for a few years, but it surely was a acutely aware resolution that I made. After all, there was ache on the time,” he burdened.
The previous chairman has damaged his silence and instructed how his first try to guard the newly elected NPP authorities was met with fierce and hostile backlash from the very celebration he was attempting to guard.
“After I spoke to the media for the primary time, I used to be applauded in return…and I mentioned keep away (and) preserve quiet. 100 days have handed. I used to be requested, what has the brand new authorities achieved? “I believe you’re asking an excessive amount of of a brand new authorities. I’ve been in authorities for a lot of, a few years right here in Ghana and never one authorities has been capable of type a full authorities inside 100 days,” he mentioned.
Mr. Afoko defended his historic name for persistence from the folks firstly of his administration, repeating a well-known macroeconomic analogy in regards to the nice complexities of nationwide politics and govt governance.
“A nationwide ship is sort of a supertanker on the excessive seas. It can’t be simply circled like a sports activities automobile. Turning round takes time and requires a large berth. So I believe we ought to be affected person and look forward to the federal government to settle down,” Afoko defined.
However as an alternative of being appreciated by celebration insiders, Afoko mentioned his protection of the presidency was used as a weapon by detractors, forcing him to function in isolation as soon as once more.
“Within the feedback that adopted, Afoko mentioned, ‘Nana Addo has failed,’ and that was it. After which I rapidly realized, hmm, ‘shut up, step away, help me as quietly as attainable.’ And I did,” the previous chairman narrated.
Regardless of being pushed underground by inner factionalism, Afoko revealed that he by no means abdicated his duties as a devoted kingmaker and continued to leverage his private assets and networks to lift funds and help his most well-liked parliamentary candidates to victory.
“There are folks I supported to grow to be members of Congress,” he revealed.
Mr Afoko’s advisory journey to Larger Accra has been carefully watched by political analysts because the celebration licks its wounds following latest electoral setbacks.
His continued involvement is extensively interpreted as a deliberate transfer to reconcile warring factions inside the celebration, strengthen structural self-discipline, and place himself as a unifying elder statesman able to regaining essential political floor the celebration misplaced over the previous decade.
