New Patriotic Party (NPP) National Chairman hopeful Paul Afoko has appealed to party members to put aside past grievances and rally behind his bid to lead the party, saying unity is the only path to rebuilding the NPP and returning it to power.

Speaking in an interview on JoyNews, Mr Afoko acknowledged the party's defeat in the 2024 general election, adding that the NPP must first heal its internal divisions before it can reconnect with Ghanaians.

"I know that our party has been severely punished in the last general elections by the electorate," he said.

"I know that we as a party also need very much to begin to reconnect with Ghanaians. But we have to reunite our party."

Mr Afoko said years of disagreements and internal tensions should no longer define the party's future, urging members to focus instead on rebuilding ahead of the next general election.

"We have to forget all the pains, the hurt and all that. This is the time for us to put all those things aside," he said.

He appealed directly to delegates to back his candidature, promising to strengthen the party's structures and deepen unity if elected National Chairman.

"Support me to come back as your National Chairman to deepen this unity, to strengthen the party structures, and then to recapture power. That is what we need to do now," he stated.

According to him, regaining political power should be the party's overriding objective if it hopes to implement its policies and improve Ghanaians' lives.

"Nothing else is more important to us as a party. If we genuinely believe that we want to come back to power and to implement our ideas and to use power to improve the lives of our people, we need to do this," he said.

Mr Afoko said rebuilding the NPP would require reaching out to every section of society, but insisted that reconciliation within the party must come first.

"We need to reach out to everybody, to the youth, but first to ourselves, and then to the youth, to the business community, women. We need to do this," he said.

The former National Chairman also urged party members to use his own experience as proof that old wounds can be left behind for the greater good of the party.

"NPP, please. I'm appealing to you now. Let's unite. Look at me. Look at what I've gone through. And use me as your example," he said.

"That if I have seen that we need to overcome all those emotions, leave them behind us, and build new bridges into the future, then please, come September 19 in Kumasi, make me the chairman and the rebuilding of our party into power 2 years afterwards begins"

Mr Afoko disclosed that he had already begun engaging party members across the country as part of efforts to rebuild confidence within the NPP.

"I've started reaching out to everybody. Whether you've lost or not, whether you are in an orphan constituency or not, I'm reaching out," he said.

He said that his decision to contest the chairmanship was motivated by his commitment to the party rather than personal ambition.

"I'm not coming into this because there's something for me to gain. I'm not coming into this because I have an ego or I have pride. I am coming into this genuinely, genuinely feeling for my party," he said.

"Anybody who loves this party will not sit back," he added.