Joe Ghartey urges ceasefire in NPP amid internal tensions

A senior member of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Joe Ghartey, has called for calm and unity within the party, urging feuding factions to end public spats and shift focus to strategic rebuilding efforts ahead of the next general elections.

In an interview addressing growing tensions within the opposition party, the former Attorney-General and Minister of Justice said what the NPP needs now is “cool heads, sober reflection and strategic thinking.”

“There is no point in pointing fingers at each other,” Ghartey stressed. Citing a well-known Ghanaian proverb, he added, “When you point a finger at one person, the other four point at you.”

While acknowledging that a large share of the blame is being directed at the party's leadership, Ghartey suggested the challenges are not limited to the top. “A fish rots from the head, they say, so it’s not surprising a lot of the blame is going to the top. But at all levels, things fell apart,” he noted.

Sharing his personal experience as a former Cabinet Minister, he revealed that he sometimes struggled to reach certain Chief Executive Officers during his tenure, but said he would not name them as it would serve no constructive purpose.

Commenting specifically on the public feud between Bono Regional Chairman of the NPP, Kwame Baffoe (popularly known as Abronye), and former presidential hopeful Kennedy Agyapong, Ghartey appealed for calm. “They and their supporters should please ceasefire,” he pleaded.

He warned that the days when party members remained silent while the NPP was torn apart by internal selfish interests must end. “The time that some of us were quiet for the Party to be torn apart and destroyed by selfish interest is over,” he said.

Despite recent setbacks, Ghartey expressed optimism about the party’s future. “We have been taught a lesson, but it is just bent, not broken,” he concluded.

Ghartey’s comments come at a critical moment for the NPP as it grapples with internal discontent following its defeat in the 2024 general elections. His call for reconciliation adds to growing voices within the party urging reflection, healing, and unity.