Photo: Paul Afoko beaming after his landslide win in Tamale – April 2014
• No Reinstatement, No Expulsion, Just Limbo
Nearly a decade since the indefinite suspension of Paul Awetami Afoko as National Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), fresh scrutiny is mounting over the party’s prolonged silence on the matter, and the legality of its continued inaction. The Hawks’ Political Desk and some party reformists are questioning whether the NPP has strayed from its own constitution by failing to either expel Afoko or reinstate him following the expiration of his four-year tenure.
In October 2015, Mr. Afoko was suspended by an emergency National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting — a decision based on allegations that he was undermining the party’s then-flagbearer, Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo. The move, triggered by a petition from the party’s Council of Elders and supported by a Disciplinary Committee recommendation, sparked internal unrest and accusations of procedural irregularities.
Mr. Afoko, alongside then-General Secretary Kwabena Agyepong and Second Vice Chairman Sammy Crabbe — all known allies — were sidelined in what many saw as a purge of dissenting voices within the party’s hierarchy.
Now, party insiders and some constitutional scholars argue that Afoko’s suspension should have lapsed with the end of his original four-year term, and that no formal action was taken to expel him. They assert that, in the absence of expulsion or reinstatement, Mr. Afoko retains his place in the annals of the party’s leadership — and thus, his portrait and that of Kwabena Agyepong must be displayed among the National Officers at the party’s headquarters in Asylum Down.
“There is no provision in the NPP constitution that allows for an indefinite suspension without review,” a legal analyst told this paper. “If Paul Afoko’s tenure ended without a fresh election annulling his mandate, then technically, the suspension lapsed — and his record remains part of the party’s historical leadership.”
Despite successive National Chairmen, including Freddie Blay and now Stephen Ntim, no formal steps have been taken to revisit Afoko’s case or that of other suspended members. Neither the party’s National Council nor its Disciplinary Committee has re-engaged the matter, further muddying the waters.
Paul Afoko has long maintained that the suspension was unlawful, arguing that the emergency meeting called by Freddie Blay was itself unconstitutional. “The meeting called by Mr. Blay is an illegality and a breach of our party’s constitution,” Afoko said in a statement at the time.
Events that day were marred by violence, with reports of clashes between vigilante groups and private security, underscoring the depth of internal tensions that accompanied his ouster.
The continued absence of Afoko’s image from the party’s official records is being seen by many as a deliberate attempt to erase a chapter of the party’s history — a move critics warn could damage the NPP’s institutional integrity.
As the NPP regroups following its 2024 electoral defeat, voices within are calling for the party to revisit long-standing internal disputes and uphold its constitutional values. Whether Afoko and Agyepong will finally be recognised as former national officers — or be officially expelled — remains a litmus test for the party’s commitment to due process and internal democracy.
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