'You dare my authority, you dare NPP Council' – Afoko

The Chairman of Ghana’s biggest opposition party has told his critics that daring his authority amounts to daring the party’s National Council.

Paul Afoko was reacting to internal criticisms that he and the General Secretary, Kwabena Agyepong, are unilaterally appointing and dismissing party appointees without proper consultation.

The allegations followed a directive from the chief scribe to the acting Communications Director, Perry Okudzeto, to proceed on his two-year accumulated leave, as well as Agyepong’s alleged unilateral appointment of new Deputy Communication Directors.

Some stalwarts of the NPP – first Vice Chairman Freddie Blay, party elder Dr Kwame Amoako-Tuffuor, National Executive Committee Member F.F. Antoh, Northern Regional Chairman Daniel Bugri Naabu, and some others – have all raised concerns about Agyepong’s “one-man show."

But Afoko told journalists at a press conference on Tuesday that the compulsory leave directive was not borne out of malice.

According to him, all officials of the party will, henceforth, be asked to go on a 15-day compulsory leave as part of the party’s quest to professionalise its administrative processes.

He said a lot of the criticisms against him and Agyepong are grounded in misinformation and miscommunication.

The press conference was disrupted by gun-wielding irate youth, some of whom also had machetes and other crude weapons on them.