Senior Lecturer at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), Dr Kwasi Amakye-Boateng, has backed former National Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Awentami Paul Afoko, in the party’s chairmanship race, describing him as the candidate he considers best placed to help rebuild the party.

Speaking on Kumasi-based Akoma FM, Dr Amakye-Boateng said the NPP needed a leader capable of reaching out to disgruntled and former members and bringing them back into the party.

He said, in his assessment, the four candidates contesting the National Chairmanship position did not have the same capacity to reach out to aggrieved and breakaway members.

Dr Amakye-Boateng said the NPP’s rebuilding should go beyond changing individuals and involve reconciliation, organisational restructuring and institutional renewal.

“If the NPP can be formidable, recontouring, and institutional renewal, then the best person to lead the party is Paul Afoko,” he said.

He also said the position of National Chairman required more than the conventional responsibilities associated with the office.

According to him, the person occupying the position must have credibility, reliability and experience capable of strengthening confidence in the party.

“The character of that person should be credible, reliable, and someone whose experience can give credibility to the party,” he said.

Dr Amakye-Boateng said Mr Afoko’s previous experience within the NPP, coupled with his political background, made him, in his view, suitable to spearhead what he described as a new identity for the party.

NPP chairmanship race

The four candidates contesting the NPP’s National Chairmanship position are former General Secretary John Boadu, former Greater Accra Regional Chairman Sammy Crabbe, former National Chairman Paul Afoko and former Energy Minister Boakye Agyarko.

They have been assigned positions one to four on the ballot paper respectively, with Mr Boadu first, Mr Crabbe second, Mr Afoko third and Mr Agyarko fourth.

The NPP is scheduled to hold its national executive elections on October 3, 2026, as the party reorganises ahead of the 2028 general election.

Dr Amakye-Boateng has previously argued that Mr Afoko’s return to active politics could provide an opportunity for reconciliation within the NPP.

In July, he said Mr Afoko’s willingness to move beyond past disagreements and return to serve the party could help bring back members who had become disaffected or withdrawn.