Former National Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Paul Awentami Afoko, says the party is yet to fully realise its potential, describing it as still in a phase of rebuilding and rebranding.

“The NPP as a party has not recognised its potential. It hasn’t achieved its potential. It’s still a party of working out and rebranding, rebuilding,” Afoko stated.

He contrasted the NPP with its main rival, the National Democratic Congress (NDC), which he said was highly organised and militant during the period he was active in frontline politics.

“I saw the NDC to be a militant party at the time that I came. It seems the roles have reversed,” he noted.

According to Afoko, after his removal from office through a court process, the NPP began nurturing vigilante groups that later became notorious in the country’s political space.

“After I had been thrown out by the court, we started developing Invisible Forces, Delta Forces, Bolgatanga Bulldogs, and we rather became militants,” he revealed.

Afoko made these remarks while speaking on Starr FM on Thursday, September 4, 2025.

Who Is Paul Afoko — and Why Is This Significant Now?

In April 2014, Afoko was elected NPP National Chairman. But by late 2015, his tenure spiralled into controversy. On October 23, 2015, the NPP’s National Executive Committee (NEC) suspended him indefinitely over accusations of a unilateral leadership style and appointed the First Vice-Chairman, Freddie Blay, as the acting chairman.

Afoko pushed back, labelling the move unconstitutional and challenging it in court. However, in mid-2016, the High Court ruled that due process had been followed and dismissed his case.

Since then, Afoko has largely remained under the radar, rarely voicing public commentary on internal affairs. A few signs of thaw arrived in 2025: NPP insiders signalled an open-door policy toward returning affiliates, clarifying that Afoko remained a party member even after losing his leadership post.

But some observers, like Sammy Crabbe, cautioned that, according to court rulings, Afoko may no longer be formally recognised as a member, highlighting how the party’s unresolved handling weighs on long-term unity.

Later in August 2025, Afoko broke his long silence publicly on Okay FM, welcoming the party’s general amnesty toward estranged members but criticising the attached caveat that barred them from contesting internal elections for two years as unacceptable.

He’s urging the NPP to honour its tradition of orderly renewal, rather than compressing the political cycle.