Former National Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Paul Afoko, has recounted the turbulent journey that led to his election as party chairman, revealing the intense opposition he faced along the way.
In an exclusive interview with Starr FM monitored by newsnetgh.com, Mr. Afoko said his rise to the chairmanship position was met with fierce resistance, including smear campaigns, accusations of vote-buying, and persistent mudslinging.
“You see, for those who opposed me, those who didn’t want me to be chairman and fought me all the way — as I said, vote-buying, mudslinging, lies being told, all of that — I still won with a huge majority. They never gave up,” he recounted.
According to him, some rivals even mocked his victory. “In fact, I was told that one of them said, ‘Osee obidi Chairman, y3 kɔ Nkran, obi di Chairman nɛ y3n whyɛ (he says he wants to be chairman, we are going to Accra, he should go there and be chairman). He’s still alive, and he knows himself,” Afoko said.
Following his election, Mr. Afoko said he was determined to introduce reforms that would reshape the image and strengthen the structures of the party.
“I didn’t want this party to continue being seen only as a massive party of the people. I wanted reforms,” he stressed.
One of his key reforms, he disclosed, was the introduction of a new financial structure to empower grassroots operations.
“I insisted on every constituency in this country opening a bank account, and I pushed 10,000 cedis into every single constituency,” Afoko revealed.
However, the move, he said, was met with stiff resistance from within the party’s executive.
“Yes, and I was opposed strongly, even within the executive. Why? Why should you be sending the money to constituencies? Oh really? No, no, no, don’t do that. But I said it was the right thing to do.”
