Afoko Is Weeping

Since his surprise election as chairman of the opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP), Mr. Paul Afoko has faced stiff opposition from some elements in the party, making his work as leader of the party very difficult him.

Mr Afoko's troubles are being compounded by perceptions within the Nana Akufo-Addo faction that he is working to favour Alan Kyeremanten bid to become the next flagbearer of the party as against the twice defeated flagbearer.

This has led to a plot to frustrate every move he makes with the intent of watering down his influence as the leader of the party in the absence of a flagbearer.

Mr. Afoko and Mr. Kwabena Agyei Agyapong, General Secretary of the party, were stampeded at a recent meeting held to deliberate on the constitution of the party's National Council- the highest decision-making body after delegates' congress– when Nana Akufo-Addo and his henchmen did all in their power to maintain the Council.

Since he became chairman, Mr. Paul Afoko's move to reconstitute the body was interpreted to mean a move to introduce members that would prosecute Alan's agenda, with the remote support of ex-President Kufuor, who is leader of the 'Kufuor Faction' that birthed the 'Alan Camp.'

So ardent was the opposition to his move that he had to go mute at the meeting to calm nerves, as Nana Akufo-Addo got more aggressive, The Catalyst can reveal.

Afoko is reported to have walked out of a similar Steering Committee meeting when Nana Akufo-Addo's men aggressively opposed his proposal, making him useless at the gathering.

All his suggestions were rejected, an indication of the disrespect being shown to him by some of the executives, believed to be in favour of Akufo-Addo's candidature.

Afoko has not had it smooth in the party since he was tagged as belonging to the Kufuor faction, which can boast of powerful personalities like ex-President Kufuor and former chief of staff, Kwadwo Mpiani, who are said to be sponsoring Alan Kyeremanten's bid to become presidential candidate of the party.

In 2007, embattled Afoko was disgraced at the party's delegates' congress at the University of Ghana, Legon when an announcement was made over the public address system by then national organiser of the party, Lord Commey, accusing him of distributing dollars to delegates to influence their decision in favour of Alan Kyeremanten. He was physically attacked following that announcement. But later came out to deny the allegations and to disclose that he had no dollars on him on that fateful day.

Unfortunately for him, the harm had already been done and Afoko was humiliated, giving Nana Addo the clear chance to win the flagbearship race by default as Mr. Kyeremanten was cajoled to throw in the towel prematurely ahead of a runoff between him and Nana Akufo-Addo which he could have won.

Mr. Kyeremanten had had to take the painful decision in order to avert a planned breakaway by the Akufo-Addo camp if he should win the runoff.

Come 2014, when Mr Afoko made known his intention to go for the chairmanship of the party, he came under another barrage of frustrations and humiliation.

The vetting committee that was expected to consider his candidature first of all refused to give him approval due to a petition from some so-called faceless person within the party who accused him of being an ex-convict in the United Kingdom (UK) for a drugs-related offence.

Before he could clear himself of that false allegation, rumours from within the circles of the NPP started making the rounds that Afoko was gay.

After surmounting all the hurdles placed on his way, he managed to win the chairmanship in a contest that saw him make mincemeat of the incumbent Jake Obetsebi-Lamptey.

The problem for Mr Afoko is that the Akufo-Addo camp has vowed to make his term unpalatable and the agenda is on course.

In a party that thrives on tribal bigotry, Afoko's crime is also that he is a Northerner and his victory as chairman of the party is an abomination to the tribal bigots, especially those who consider him not to be in favour of their candidate, who believe the party belongs to the Ashantis and Akyems.

Meanwhile, the party has set December 6 as date for the congress to elect a flagbearer to lead the party to the 2016 general election.

Nana Akufo-Addo who has strongly advocated for an early congress feels betrayed by the December date, which his camp considers more favourable for Alan Kyeremanten who needs time to prepare adequately for what is beginning to look like an “all-die-be-die” contest for the Akyem strongman.

It was however decided the National Council reconvenes on 19th June 2014 to deliberate on other matters relating to the presidential primaries. More soon.