Former National Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Paul Awentami Afoko, has disclosed that his suspension from office and the subsequent court ruling against him convinced him to walk away from seeking active political positions.
Speaking on Starr Chat with Bola Ray on Thursday, September 4, 2025, Afoko described his experience as a turning point, noting that politics had become “a thankless job.”
“After my suspension had gone through, and I went to court and the court gave that bizarre judgment, I walked away and said, never again. I’m not going to look for any active position in politics because it’s a tactless job. You come in with ideals and this is what you get; that people can sit somewhere and concoct lies about you, even to the point of killing to get rid of you,” he said.
He referenced the death of Adams Mahama, the then Upper East Regional Chairman of the party, which was used as grounds to demand his removal. He alleged that the petitions filed against him were coordinated.
“Remember my brother Greg. Greg didn’t kill anybody, but some people killed Adams and on the back of that they went round trying to remove me. The petitions that came to the party only talked about the killing of Adams: ‘If we don’t remove this man, he is going to make sure that Akufo-Addo loses the elections.’ And those two petitions came from two northerners. Funny enough, if I gave you those petitions today, you’d see word for word it was the same thing. The only difference was their names and addresses,” Afoko recalled.
READ: I strengthened the grassroots by empowering constituencies – Paul Afoko
He admitted that the events left him deeply angered at the time, but said he later found solace after counsel from former President John Agyekum Kufuor.
“I was so angry and I went over to President Kufuor. He told me my anger was eating me up, so I should let it go. I am no longer bitter or angry,” The former NPP Chairman added.
Source: Starrfm.com.gh/Barbara Yeboah
