Former New Patriotic Party (NPP) National Chairman, Paul Afoko, has officially launched his bid to return as the party’s national chairman, pledging to promote unity, strategic leadership and constructive internal engagement as the party prepares for future elections.
Speaking at the launch of his campaign on Tuesday, Mr. Afoko said he had moved beyond the circumstances surrounding his suspension from the party years ago and no longer harboured bitterness.
“But that’s gone. The state of the party will not allow us to dwell on emotions. Emotions must give way to thinking, to strategic thinking, to how we can help our party to come out of this situation,” he said.
He added: “I have forgiven completely. God knows my heart. My heart is clean and clear.”
Mr. Afoko identified what he described as negative factionalism as one of the party’s key challenges, cautioning that internal divisions could undermine the NPP’s prospects of returning to power.
“Anybody who sits within this party and thinks that factionalism is good for the party, and I mean the negative aspects of factionalism, that person doesn’t love NPP,” he said.
While acknowledging that differing opinions are inevitable in any political organisation, he argued that disagreements should strengthen, rather than weaken, the party.
“I will not say factionalism doesn’t exist. You stated it. Factionalism exists even in a one-party state,” Mr. Afoko said, adding that competing views should be harnessed to generate ideas and improve the party.
He urged members to embrace constructive debate, saying, “Let’s have healthy debate within our party. That is where we distill ideas and come out with something wonderful.”
Mr. Afoko also pointed to the NPP’s declining parliamentary representation in recent elections, saying the party’s electoral performance underscored the need for unity and renewed strategic direction.
