‘The elephant has only stumbled’ — Afenyo-Markin rallies NPP for 2028 comeback
The Minority Leader in Parliament, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, has delivered a wide-ranging address at the New Patriotic Party’s National Annual Delegates Conference in Accra, calling for radical unity, internal reflection, and renewal after the party’s 2024 electoral defeat.
Speaking before party elders, delegates, and rank-and-file members, Afenyo-Markin warned against internal division and complacency, urging the NPP to learn from global political revivals — citing Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s rise from political isolation to global leadership as a roadmap for the party’s future.
“Let us recall the piercing wisdom of our revered former president, John Agyekum Kufuor: ‘It is better to be a cleaner in a party in power than the General Secretary of a party in opposition.’ These words echo with urgency today,” he said, adding that the defeat “stinks” not because the NPP failed, but because “Ghana is now paying the price for trusting the NDC’s hollow promises.”
In a critique of the Mahama-led NDC administration, Afenyo-Markin cited fuel price hikes, failed galamsey promises, the “vilification” of the Chief Justice, and what he described as strategic political persecution of NPP members.
“Their pledge to end galamsey has collapsed into chaos… Their vow to reset our nation has become a brazen assault on our judiciary… Worst of all, the questionable Ablekuma North rerun where NDC-affiliated thugs attacked our candidate… expose their willingness to trample democracy with violence,” he stated.
But beyond attacking the NDC, the Minority Leader’s speech was introspective, calling the NPP’s 2024 loss “our crucible” and stressing that “this defeat is not our end.”
“This is a time of transition… We are in a season that demands sober reflection, radical unity and a return to first principles,” he said. “From this moment, we speak with one voice… We are not Akyem, Ashanti, Fante, Ga or Ewe — we are NPP. We are you.”
Drawing a symbolic lesson from Indian President Narendra Modi’s visa denial in 2005 and eventual global re-emergence, Afenyo-Markin said the NPP too could rebuild; not with “better slogans” but with “better results and strong character.”
“We must rebuild together, brick by brick, anchored in our values and in the unshakable belief that no individual is bigger than the NPP,” he said. “Internal discord, suspicions and disunity have cost us. We must learn from our losses, and do so quickly.”
He emphasized the need to re-engage the grassroots, uplift party structures, and end the “hate campaigns and subtle sabotage” that contributed to the party’s woes in 2024.
He assured delegates that despite the current opposition status, the NPP caucus in Parliament remains strong and vigilant: “We are not retreating. We are strong, united and committed to the values and ideologies of our party.”
Afenyo-Markin also defended the Akufo-Addo government’s legacy, arguing that the 2024 loss stemmed not from failure, but from “a perfect storm of adversity”; including the COVID-19 pandemic, the Russia-Ukraine war, and a hung parliament.
“No government in our democratic history faced this scale of compounded crisis, yet Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo held the line,” he said. “We do not downplay the struggle Ghanaians endured, but we should commend them. It was their sacrifices that led to the economic recovery we began witnessing in 2024.”
He accused the Mahama government of “rebranding our achievements and marketing them as their own,” warning: “Let no one be deceived. The foundation they are standing on was laid by this party.”
Calling on the party’s youth to rise to the occasion, he advised, “TESCON, this is your moment… learn from the elders. Don’t insult them, engage them. Absorb their wisdom… and build with purpose.”
He ended with a defiant note of hope: “Yes, we lost the 2024 elections in a big way. But… the elephant has only stumbled. It has not been defeated.”
