Story: News Desk
New Patriotic Party (NPP) National Chairman hopeful Paul Afoko has embarked on a second round of high-level consultations with key party figures within the party as part of his bid to win the slot as national chairman.
As part of the meeting, he met former Vice President and 2024 flagbearer Dr Mahamudu Bawumia, former President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, former President John Agyekum Kufuor, and former AssinCentral Member of Parliament (MP) Kennedy Ohene Agyapong.
The engagements come after Mr. Afoko previously held consultations with all five presidential aspirants before the January 31, 2026, primaries, including Dr. Bryan Acheampong, Ing Kwabena Agyei Agyepong, and Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum, in what was framed as an effort to foster cohesion within the party.
Sources close to Afoko said the latest round of meetings forms part of broader stakeholder engagements ahead of the NPP’s upcoming National Delegates Conference, with a focus on rebuilding the party following its 2024 electoral defeat.
Afoko, who served as NPP National Chairman from 2014 to 2015, is promoting his “3R Agenda” Reunite, Rebuild, Recapture- as the central framework for returning the party to power in 2028.
A member of his team said the consultations were intended to draw on the experience of past leaders and strengthen internal consensus.
“You cannot rebuild a house by ignoring the architects,” the source said.
“He’s meeting the people who have led this party at the highest level. Their wisdom matters.”
The meetings with Dr Bawumia and former President Akufo-Addo are seen as particularly significant given their influence over the party’s direction, while the engagement with former President Kufuor, the NPP’s first president in the Fourth Republic, is being interpreted as a push to reinforce institutional memory and unity.
Party insiders say Afoko also used the engagements to emphasise the need to avoid internal blame games and to focus on rebuilding cohesion after the 2024 defeat.
He is also reported to have reiterated his position that the party must prioritise “competence over ethnicity” in selecting its next National Chairman.
The consultative tour follows earlier meetings with the Ashanti Regional Council of Elders and Ashanti Regional Executives in Kumasi, as Afoko continues a nationwide outreach to party stakeholders and kingmakers.
According to party sources, the latest engagements are being viewed as part of an effort to “test the waters and mend fences” within the opposition party as it prepares for its next phase of internal reorganisation.
