Afoko's suspension 'painful' – Blay

Acting Chairman of Ghana’s biggest opposition party Mr Freddy Blay has described as painful the indefinite suspension of his predecessor Paul Afoko.

Mr Blay, in his report to the New Patriotic Party’s ongoing Extraordinary National Delegates’ Conference in Sunyani on Saturday December 19, said following petitions filed by bona fide members of the party against Mr Afoko’s conduct and behaviour, the National Executive Committee (NEC) upheld a recommendation by the Disciplinary Committee to dispense with the party’s first-ever elected northern chairman.

“…In accordance with our constitution, the committee unanimously decided, though painfully, to suspend indefinitely Mr Paul Awintame Afoko”, Mr Blay told the gathering, which included flagbearer Nana Akufo-Addo, running mate Dr Mahamudu Bawumia and former President John Agyekum Kufuor, among a raft of others.

Apart from Mr Afoko, two other national executives have been suspended indefinitely for breaching various provisions of the party’s constitution.

The other two are second Vice-Chair Sammy Crabbe and General Secretary Kwabena Agyepong. They were nudged off for allegedly acting in ways that put the party at a disadvantage.

Issues surrounding Mr Afoko’s leadership and suspension led to the death of two party members: Upper East regional Chairman Adam Mahama and activist Saddiq Abubakar in Asawase, Ashanti region.

There were numerous clashes at the party’s Asylum Down headquarters in Accra over several thorny issues that came up as a result of the leadership of Mr Afoko and the two others. Their suspension also sparked similar rumpus.