After an extensive consultation, former national chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Paul Awentami Afoko has taken a firm decision and formally announced his intention to contest for the position of National Chairman of the NPP in the upcoming internal elections.
He made the declaration at a press conference in Accra on Tuesday (July 14, 2026), and gave a strong indication as to why he is the best candidate for the national chairman position.
Mr Afoko indicated that his decision to contest for the chairmanship followed extensive reflection and encouragement from many well-meaning members, supporters and stakeholders of the New Patriotic Party.
He touched on the need for renewed leadership rooted in the founding values and democratic ideals of the NPP.
"I have listened to elders of the party. I have listened to grassroots members. I have listened to constituency and regional leaders. I have listened to women, youth, patrons, former executives, former appointees, Members of Parliament, parliamentary candidates, and ordinary party workers who have carried the elephant through difficult terrain for many years," he said at the press conference.
"I have heard pain. I have heard disappointment. I have heard frustration. But I have also heard hope. I have heard loyalty. I have heard courage. I have heard a strong desire that the New Patriotic Party must rise again.
"It is after these extensive consultations that I am here today to formally announce my intention to offer myself, subject to the rules of the party, for the position of National Chairman of the New Patriotic Party," he added.
What he said at the press conference
Today, I stand before you with humility, gratitude, renewed conviction, and a deep sense of responsibility to the New Patriotic Party and to the Republic of Ghana.
Over the past several months, I have embarked on a quiet but important journey across our party. I have engaged our National Executives, our National Patrons, and our National Council of Elders. I have met Regional Executives, Regional Patrons, and Regional Councils of Elders in all sixteen regions of Ghana. I have also engaged our Presidential Candidate, His Excellency Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, President Akufo Addo, President John Agyekum Kufuor and our Parliamentary Caucus.
These engagements were not a campaign. Let me state that clearly.
The formal campaign has not begun. The party has rules, structures, and processes. I respect those rules, and I will submit myself to them. Campaigning can only begin after the appropriate internal processes, have taken place.
What we have done so far has been consultation, listening, reflection, and reconciliation.
I have listened to elders of the party. I have listened to grassroots members. I have listened to constituency and regional leaders. I have listened to women, youth, patrons, former executives, former appointees, Members of Parliament, parliamentary candidates, and ordinary party workers who have carried the elephant through difficult terrain for many years.
I have heard pain. I have heard disappointment. I have heard frustration. But I have also heard hope. I have heard loyalty. I have heard courage. I have heard a strong desire that the New Patriotic Party must rise again.
It is after these extensive consultations that I am here today to formally announce my intention to offer myself, subject to the rules of the party, for the position of National Chairman of the New Patriotic Party.
I do so not out of personal ambition. I do so because I believe our party is at a defining moment. I do so because I believe the NPP can recover, rebuild, and return to government. I do so because I believe that with the right leadership, the right organisation, and the right spirit, the NPP can once again earn the confidence of the Ghanaian people.
My message is simple. It is a message of the 3 Rs:
Reunite.
Rebuild - Strengthen the Structures of the Party
Recapture power.
These are not slogans for decoration. They are practical steps for renewal.
First, we must reunite.
The New Patriotic Party cannot win when it is divided. We cannot win when old wounds remain open. We cannot win when loyal members feel excluded, humiliated, ignored, or pushed aside. We cannot win when our internal competition becomes internal destruction.
We must bring back the abiding principles of our tradition: respect, discipline, tolerance, service, and loyalty to a cause bigger than any one individual.
I am not coming to lead one faction against another. I am coming to help reconcile the party. I am coming to build bridges across generations, across regions, across tendencies, across camps, and amongst all genuine party people who believe in our tradition.
Our party was not built by one person. It was built by many. It was built by people who endured detention, exile, intimidation, loss, hardship and even the ultimate sacrifice – Death, because they believed that Ghana deserved freedom, enterprise, democracy, accountable government, and prosperity.
We owe those founders and fighters a duty to protect the party they built, that we now hold in trust for future generations.
Second, we must reorganise.
No political party wins power by wishful thinking. Parties win power through organisation. Parties win through strong structures. Parties win through polling station work, constituency strength, regional coordination, credible data, disciplined messaging, and respect for the grassroots.
When I had the honour of serving as National Chairman, I placed strong emphasis on organisation. We opened and resourced constituency accounts. We supported constituencies directly. We conducted some of the most organised parliamentary primaries in our party's history. We promoted discipline. We insisted that resources meant for the party must reach the party structures. We worked to make the grassroots feel that the national party existed for them, not above them.
That organisational discipline helped the party enter the 2016 election with strength. It helped our parliamentary effort. It helped us build confidence in the constituencies. It helped us prepare for victory.
I did not complete my term. That is a matter known to all. But I have never abandoned the NPP. Even after my suspension, I continued to pay my dues. I continued to support candidates and constituencies. I continued to believe in this party. I continued to hope for its renewal.
Today, I say with humility that what we started then, we can do again - and we can do it better.
The NPP must return power to the structures. We must strengthen polling stations. We must strengthen electoral areas. We must strengthen constituencies. We must give regional executives the tools to work. We must ensure that party communication is not only from Accra to the regions, but from the grassroots to the national leadership.
As a National Chairman I will be a team player, a field commander, a reconciler, an organiser, a fundraiser, a disciplinarian, a listener, and a servant of the party.
Third, we must recapture power.
The NPP has a unique opportunity to return to government if we do the right things. Ghana remains a country of enterprise, talent, energy, and ambition. Our people want jobs. Our traders want relief. Our businesses want stability. Our farmers want support. Our young people want opportunity. Our professionals want a country that rewards hard work. Our entrepreneurs want a government that understands and enables enterprise.
The NPP has always been the party of opportunity. We are the party of private initiative. We are the party of property-owning democracy. We are the party that believes that when citizens are free, empowered, educated, and supported, they can build prosperity for the nation and for themselves.
We must return boldly to these roots.
To the business community, I say this: the NPP must regain your trust. We know that mistakes were made. We know that some of you felt disappointed. We know that some policies and actions created hardship, uncertainty, or frustration. As a party, we must have the humility to listen, to learn, and to correct what went wrong.
But we must also remind Ghana that the NPP remains the natural home of business, enterprise, innovation, and wealth creation. We must work with traders, manufacturers, farmers, transport operators, artisans, professionals, contractors, technology entrepreneurs, and young start-ups to build a new prosperity agenda.
To the youth of Ghana and the youth of our party, I say this: your time is not tomorrow. Your time is now.
You are not merely foot soldiers. You are not merely social media voices. You are not merely campaign volunteers. You are the generation that must steer Ghana into 21st century prosperity.
The world is changing. Artificial intelligence, digital technology, robotics, biotechnology, renewable energy, agritech, fintech, and data-driven enterprise are reshaping nations. Ghana cannot be left behind. The NPP must become the party that prepares young Ghanaians for this new world.
We must build a party that gives young people space to rise. We must assure them that their path in the party will not be blocked by old habits, closed circles, or fear of new energy. We must open the doors of leadership, mentorship, innovation, and opportunity.
To the women of our party and of Ghana, I say this: no serious renewal of the NPP can take place without women at the centre.
Women are organisers. Women are communicators. Women are business leaders. Women are professionals. Women are farmers. Women are traders. Women are caregivers. Women are strategists. Women are the backbone of our homes, communities, and party structures. Dr. Aggrey once said I paraphrase – You educate a man, you educate an individual, but you educate a woman and you educate a whole nation.
As National Chairman, I will work to ensure that women are not treated as an appendix to the party agenda, but as a central pillar of party organisation, policy engagement, fundraising, communication, mobilisation, and leadership development.
The NPP cannot recapture power without women. Ghana cannot prosper without women.
I also want to address what some call the northern factor.
I am a proud son of the Upper East Region. I am also a proud Ghanaian. I belong to a tradition whose roots run through every part of this country. Our tradition is national. It has always drawn strength from different parts of Ghana.
We must never allow anyone to reduce the NPP to a narrow identity. Our strength is national. Our future must remain national.
I am aware that some may ask whether the NPP can have both its Presidential Candidate and its National Chairman coming from the North of Ghana.
Let me address that matter directly.
The New Patriotic Party is a national party. It is not a party built on narrow geography, ethnicity, religion, or regional exclusion. It is a party built on ideas, sacrifice, freedom, enterprise, democracy, patriotism, and service to Ghana.
Our tradition has always been strongest when every part of Ghana feels fully represented in it. The tradition is not complete without any one of its pillars.
The question before the NPP today should therefore not be whether a leader comes from the North, the South, the East, the West, the coast, the forest belt, the middle belt, or the savannah. The question should be: who can unite the party? Who can reorganise the party? Who can help our Presidential Candidate win? Who can help us recover parliamentary seats? Who can restore discipline, confidence, and grassroots energy?
When the NPP chooses leaders from any part of Ghana, those leaders do not serve only their region. They serve the whole party and the whole country. Dr Mahamudu Bawumia is not a candidate for the North. He is the Presidential Candidate of the New Patriotic Party and a candidate for Ghana. In the same way, When I am given the honour to serve as National Chairman. I will be Chairman for the entire New Patriotic Party - from Axim to Bawku, from Ho to Wa, from Kumasi to Tamale, from Accra to Nalerigu, from Cape Coast to Bolgatanga, and across every constituency of this country. My record from 2014 speaks for itself, I didn’t campaign as a person from Sandema but on the New Plan for Power strategy.
Talk about the formation of our Tradition after the passage of the avoidance of discrimination law.
· NPP - Northern Peoples Party
· NLM
· Ga Shifimo Kpee
· Fante Confederacy
· Muslim Action Party
· Trans Volta Togoland
· Anlo youth Movement (Modesto Apaloo)
· UGCC
This coming together gives us our National character.
We must not allow our opponents, or even our own fears, to make us retreat from the national character of our party. The NPP must demonstrate that it is mature enough, confident enough, and national enough to judge leadership by competence, commitment, sacrifice, organisation, and capacity to win - not by regional suspicion.
Indeed, having a Presidential Candidate from the North East Region and a National Chairman from the Upper East Region should not be seen as a weakness. Properly understood, it can be a powerful statement that the NPP is truly national, truly inclusive, and truly ready to expand its appeal while maintaining its traditional strengths across the country.
Let me be clear: this is not about entitlement. It is about national service. It is about the right leadership for the right moment. It is about building a party machinery strong enough to support our Presidential Candidate, regain parliamentary strength, reconnect with the grassroots, and win back the confidence of Ghanaians.
I want to speak directly about our Presidential Candidate, His Excellency Dr Mahamudu Bawumia.
The task ahead is not his alone. It is the task of the entire party. No Presidential Candidate can win without a united party, a strong organisation, disciplined structures, motivated grassroots, and a parliamentary strategy that works constituency by constituency.
Dr Bawumia represents an important opportunity for the NPP and for Ghana. He must be supported by a party machinery that is united, properly resourced, nationally energised, and strategically disciplined, to add value to the value created in the brand DMB.
I do not believe that the setbacks of 2024 should be simplistically placed at the feet of one person. Elections are won or lost through many factors: organisation, communication, economic conditions, parliamentary dynamics, grassroots morale, public trust, candidate selection, and national mood.
The duty before us now is not to blame. The duty before us is to rebuild.
When I am given the honour to serve again as National Chairman, I will work to support our Presidential Candidate, support our parliamentary candidates, support our constituencies, and restore confidence in the party from the polling station to the national level.
We must reverse the parliamentary losses. We must regain seats. We must protect strongholds. We must recover lost ground. We must identify winnable constituencies early. We must resource candidates properly. We must resolve internal disputes before they become electoral wounds. (Fairness especially in the recent constituency election). Congratulation to those who won in the recent constituency elections I encourage all who participated to unite. We must bring back those who have drifted away. We must persuade floating voters with humility and seriousness.
I am not here to boast. I am not here to claim that I alone can save the NPP. No one person can. But I am also not a walkover. I have served this party. I have sacrificed for this party. I have been tested by difficulty. I have seen the party at close range. I understand its structures, its strengths, its weaknesses, and its enormous potential.
I know what organisation can do. I know what unity can do. I know what discipline can do. I know what grassroots empowerment can do.
And I know that if the NPP gets its house in order, the Ghanaian people will listen to us again.
Our party must be in the news for the right reasons. We must speak to the real concerns of Ghanaians. We must be practical. We must be present. We must be disciplined. We must show that we have learnt lessons. We must demonstrate that we are ready to govern again with humility, competence, compassion, and seriousness.
This is not the time for empty philosophy. This is the time for practical work.
We must know every constituency. We must know every polling station. We must know where we lost, why we lost, and how we can recover. We must listen to communities. We must repair relationships. We must rebuild trust with professional groups, traders, farmers, students, youth groups, women's groups, faith communities, traditional authorities, civil society, and the business community.
We must once again become the party that Ghanaians associate with prosperity, business confidence, rapid development, social mobility, freedom, and opportunity.
Ladies and gentlemen, my decision to offer myself for National Chairman is therefore rooted in duty.
It is a call to reunite the party.
It is a call to reorganise the party.
It is a call to recapture power for the service of Ghana.
To our elders, I ask for guidance.
To our patrons, I ask for continued wisdom and support.
To our executives at all levels, I ask for partnership.
To our Members of Parliament and parliamentary candidates, I ask for teamwork.
To our women, I ask for leadership.
To our youth, I ask for energy, innovation, and courage.
To our grassroots, I ask for renewed faith.
To those who feel hurt, disgruntled, rejected, or forgotten, I say: come home. The NPP needs you.
To those who disagree with me, I say: let us disagree as members of one family. Let us compete without destroying one another. Let us remember that after internal elections, we must still stand under one flag.
BUSIA said – 1 dissenter must have the right to be protected to dissent within the party.
To the people of Ghana, I say: the NPP has heard you. We know that trust must be earned again. We know that words alone will not be enough. We know that the next election will not be won by entitlement. It will be won by humility, hard work, credible ideas, disciplined organisation, and a renewed commitment to national development.
Ghana needs a strong NPP. Ghana needs a responsible opposition. Ghana needs a party ready to return to government not for power's sake, but for the potential of power to positively impact the lives of our compatriots.
I believe the NPP can rise again.
I believe we can reunite.
I believe we can reorganise.
I believe we can recapture power.
With humility, courage, and faith in God, I formally announce my intention to offer myself for the position of National Chairman of the New Patriotic Party, subject to the party's rules and processes.
May God bless the New Patriotic Party.
May God bless our Presidential Candidate.
May God bless our elders, executives, members, and supporters.
And may God bless our homeland Ghana.
Thank you.
