Afoko Rallies NPP to Build Bridges to the Future, Not the Past

Former National Chairman of the New Patriotic Party Awentami Paul Afoko has emerged from years of quiet behind-the-scenes activity to deliver a pointed message to his party: stop relitigating old grievances and focus on winning power in 2028.

Afoko’s intervention came during a weekend tour of the Western North, Ahafo, Bono and Bono East Regions, where he held separate meetings with Regional Executives, the Council of Elders, and the Patrons of the NPP. The consultative engagements centred on strengthening grassroots structures, encouraging participation from younger members, and articulating what Afoko calls his “3R agenda”: Reuniting, Rebuilding, and Recapturing power.

“We must build bridges to the future, not the past,” Afoko told the gatherings. “If we keep looking backwards, we will miss the opportunities in front of us. The youth in this party and a great number of us don’t want stories about who offended whom in the past or during 2024. They want the party they believed in back to power.”

The message carries particular weight given Afoko’s own history within the NPP. His tenure as National Chairman was cut short by internal upheaval, and he has largely operated outside the public eye in the years since. His decision to step forward now, he suggested, was driven by concern about the party’s direction.

“For years I chose to work quietly behind the scenes, supporting the NPP in private,” he said. “But recent developments have compelled me to step forward. We need to get our party back into winning ways, and that starts with unity of purpose.”

Afoko urged members to avoid language and tactics that reopen past conflicts, framing the upcoming period as a test of whether NPP politics would mature or remain stuck in cycles of blame. He expressed optimism that the party could rally around a common purpose, specifically the goal of making former Vice President Dr Mahamudu Bawumia the next President of Ghana.

“The future will not wait for us to finish fighting the past. Let’s build the bridges now,” he said.

The Western North tour is part of a wider outreach effort aimed at reconnecting with the NPP’s base and repositioning the party’s message around development and inclusion ahead of the next election cycle. It comes at a time when Ghana’s broader political conversation is shifting from personalities to performance, a trend that places new pressure on all parties to articulate concrete policy visions rather than rely on tribal or factional loyalties.

Afoko’s call for unity also arrives against the backdrop of the NPP’s post-2024 reckoning. The party’s loss in the last general election triggered internal recriminations that have periodically erupted into public view. The question now is whether figures like Afoko, who carry both the scars and the credibility of the party’s turbulent history, can serve as bridges between factions that remain suspicious of one another.

Whether Afoko’s 3R agenda gains traction will depend on more than rhetoric. The NPP’s ability to present a united front in the run-up to 2028 will be shaped by how effectively it manages its internal disputes, integrates younger voices into its leadership structures, and convinces voters that it has learned from the factors that cost it power. Afoko’s weekend engagements suggest he intends to be part of that effort — not as a candidate, but as an elder statesman urging the party to look forward.

Image Source: GHANAIAN TIMES