Former National Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Paul Afoko, has urged the party not to underestimate the extent of the challenges it currently faces following recent electoral setbacks.
Speaking at a closed-door consultative meeting with the NPP Regional Executive Committee for Greater Accra on Thursday, May 21, 2026, Mr Afoko said the party had “lost a lot of ground” and needed to honestly assess its situation.
“You cannot sit back and say, oh, we are OK. We have lost a lot of ground, a lot of ground,” he stated.
Reflecting on his time as national chairman, Mr Afoko said the leadership team he worked with had laid a solid foundation ahead of previous general elections.
“From the time when I was chairman, when with the team that I was elected with at the time, we were able to put everything in place ready for the general elections,” he said.
Mr Afoko also spoke about the circumstances surrounding his exit from frontline party activities, saying although he experienced pain during that period, he never stopped loving or supporting the NPP.
“As I said yesterday somewhere, I saw the promised land, but I didn’t get there, for reasons that we all know. But that did not stop me from being an NPP member and following the party closely, because I love the party,” he noted.
He explained that his long silence in public political discussions was intentional.
“All through the years that I have been silent, that was a deliberate decision I had made. Of course, there was pain at the time,” he added.
Mr Afoko recalled that his first interaction with the media after a long absence generated backlash after he commented on the performance of the then newly elected government.
“The first time I spoke to the media, I just got clapped back… And I said let us stay away [and] keep quiet,” he stated.
According to him, he had argued at the time that it was unfair to expect a new administration to fully settle and deliver within its first 100 days in office.
“I was asked the question, 100 days have passed. What has the new government achieved? And I said to them, I think you’re asking too much of a new government,” he explained.
Drawing an analogy, Mr Afoko said governing a country takes time and patience.
“The ship of state is like a super tanker on the high seas. It cannot just turn around like a sports car. It takes time to turn around, a wide berth. Therefore, I think we should be patient and allow the government time to settle,” he said.
He added that some media reports misrepresented his comments, leading to criticism from sections of the party.
“Then the comments that followed, Afoko says, ‘Nana Addo has failed’, and that was it. And immediately, I realised, hm, ‘keep quiet, stay away and support as quietly as you can’. And I did,” he said.
Despite remaining largely silent over the years, Mr Afoko said he continued to support the party behind the scenes, including helping some individuals secure parliamentary seats.
“There are people who I supported to get into parliament,” he revealed.
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