….Declares “This is Wontumi’s moment”
Freddie Blay, former National Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), has declared his support for Bernard Antwi Boasiako, popularly known as Chairman Wontumi, in his bid to become the party’s next National Chairman, rather than Awentami Paul Afoko, who is seeking a return to the chairmanship more than 10 years after his suspension.
The endorsement came during a private meeting at Freddie Blay’s residence at East Legon in Accra, where the former party chairman praised the campaign structure assembled by Wontumi and his team.
Interestingly, Wontumi’s tenure in the Ashanti Region is said to have eroded the NPP’s fortunes in its stronghold, with figures such as Osei Kyei-Mensah-Bonsu, former Minister for Parliamentary Affairs and former Member of Parliament for Suame, lamenting the number of votes the party secured in the 2024 general election. The National Democratic Congress (NDC) regained all the seats it had previously lost in the region.
Wontumi had also insulted Otumfuo Osei Tutu II, the Asantehene, and when summoned to the Manhyia Palace, reportedly ran to a hospital while feigning illness. He also clashed with the NPP’s 2024 running mate, Matthew Opoku Prempeh.
However, Mr Blay, who succeeded Mr Afoko as National Chairman, described the group surrounding the Ashanti Regional Chairman as a “solid team” and commended members individually for their commitment and efforts towards the campaign.
He further assured Wontumi of his full backing, describing his endorsement as genuine and unwavering.
“I will support him every step of the way,” Mr Blay stated, adding that this was the right moment for Chairman Wontumi to lead the party.
“This is the time for Chairman Wontumi. This is his moment. He is the man of the moment,” he said.
Touching on Wontumi’s ongoing legal challenges, Mr Blay offered words of encouragement and prayed for strength, endurance and perseverance as he navigates the court processes.
The two party figures also discussed campaign strategy ahead of the internal contest, with Freddie Blay reportedly identifying the Greater Accra and Eastern regions as crucial areas requiring attention.
The meeting is seen as a significant boost for Chairman Wontumi as he seeks support from influential figures within the party while facing both political and legal pressures.
Mr Afoko, meanwhile, has expressed concern about the NPP’s current state, but cautioned against dwelling on the party’s 2024 electoral defeat amid the blame game.
“We need to gather collective experiences,” he urged.
He stressed that his ambition is to help rebuild the party. “I would want to be remembered for rebuilding the party. We must all put our hands on deck. We cannot sit and watch the party slide backwards,” he said.
Awentami Paul Afoko, who has been touring the country and meeting with the NPP Parliamentary Caucus, has insisted that the opposition party must choose its next national leaders based on competence rather than ethnic considerations.
Mr Afoko made the remarks during consultative meetings with the Ashanti Regional Council of Elders and the Ashanti Regional Executives in Kumasi weeks ago.
The engagements form part of his nationwide outreach to party stakeholders aimed at fostering unity ahead of the NPP’s National Delegates Conference.
Mr Afoko told the Regional Council of Elders and Regional Executives that the grassroots remained critical to the party’s electoral fortunes.
“The heartbeat of the NPP is the Ashanti Region, and that remains a fact. I am open to advice because you are the ones running the party,” he said.
He urged unity, saying the NPP could not leave power in the hands of the NDC and must combine its collective experience to salvage its fortunes.
Speakers at both meetings encouraged Mr Afoko to remain committed to rebuilding the party and making it a formidable force ahead of the 2028 general election.
Mr Afoko is campaigning on his “3R Agenda” — Reunite, Rebuild and Recapture — which he argues is critical to returning the NPP to power.
“There is no ‘Northern question’ in the NPP chairmanship race. Competence is what matters,” Mr Afoko, an NPP National Chairman aspirant, said.
In a recent statement issued in Accra, Mr Afoko said his decision to contest for the chairmanship followed “extensive reflection and encouragement from many well-meaning members, supporters and stakeholders of the New Patriotic Party”.
The statement stressed the need for “renewed leadership rooted in the founding values and democratic ideals” of the NPP.
It acknowledged the personal difficulties he had endured, noting that the journey “has not been without its trials”, but stressed that he had “always chosen to prioritise the unity and progress of the NPP”.
Mr Afoko’s spokesperson, Nana Yaw Osei, told the Daily Graphic that Mr Afoko would seek to rebuild and strengthen the party through a commitment to re-energising its structures and promoting inclusivity by ensuring that the party remained broad-based and representative of all stakeholders.
He added that Mr Afoko would lead the party with accountability, integrity, transparency and a clear sense of purpose.
Mr Afoko first won the NPP chairmanship on April 12, 2014, at a party congress in Tamale, becoming the first person from Northern Ghana (a Builsa from the Upper East Region) to hold the National Chairmanship.
He secured a decisive majority, polling 2,034 votes against his closest rival, Stephen Ntim, who garnered 1,503 votes, giving him a margin of 531 votes.
His tenure as chairman was marred by severe factional conflicts and allegations that he was undermining the then-flag bearer, former President Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, leading to his indefinite suspension in 2015 by the party’s disciplinary committee.
The suspension, alongside those of General Secretary Kwabena Agyepong and Vice Chairman Sammy Crabbe, plunged the party into a deep constitutional crisis that was ultimately contested in court.
During his tenure, Mr Afoko pursued a reformist agenda focused on strengthening grassroots structures.
He famously implemented a financial initiative under which he “pushed GH¢10,000” into every constituency to ensure they opened and maintained bank accounts, a measure he insisted was intended to modernise party operations and promote transparency, despite strong internal opposition.
Mr Afoko’s second bid for the chairmanship places him in direct confrontation with the current party leadership and structures that oversaw his removal.
His return signifies a persistent belief that his suspension — which he disputed as both legally and constitutionally flawed — was unjust.
His declaration also signals a renewed determination to fulfil his mandate to reform the party’s institutional framework.
In October 2015, Paul Afoko was suspended indefinitely as National Chairman of the then-opposition NPP. The decision was taken on Friday, October 23, 2015, at an emergency National Executive Committee (NEC) meeting at the party’s headquarters at Asylum Down in Accra.
The decision to suspend Mr Afoko was unanimously endorsed by the NEC members present, although reports at the time suggested that the then flag bearer maintained he could not work with Mr Afoko and others.
The party’s Council of Elders, in a seven-page letter in September 2015 to the NPP’s Disciplinary Committee, directed that steps be taken to suspend Mr Afoko from the position of National Chairman.
After several invitations to Mr Afoko to appear before the Disciplinary Committee went unanswered, the committee recommended his suspension.
The party’s then First Vice Chairman, Freddie Blay, convened and chaired the meeting that endorsed the recommendation to suspend the embattled chairman.
Mr Afoko had been accused by some party supporters of working against the party’s flag bearer’s chances of winning the 2016 election.
The then NPP flagbearer, Nana Akufo-Addo, was absent from the meeting that suspended Mr Afoko. Also absent were General Secretary Kwabena Agyepong and Second Vice Chairman Sammy Crabbe, both close associates of Mr Afoko. The two were later also suspended.
Some NEC members present at the meeting included Chairman of the Council of Elders, the late C.K. Tedam; Council of Elders member Hackman Owusu-Agyemang; National Youth Organiser Sammy Awuku; and First Vice Chairman Freddie Blay, who supervised the meeting as acting chairman.
Mr Afoko criticised the meeting and described it as illegal. He also challenged Mr Blay’s authority to convene the meeting.
“I also wish to serve notice, and notice is hereby served that the meeting called by Mr Blay is an illegality and a breach of our party’s constitution,” he said in a statement. However, the party rejected his argument.
According to a leading member of the NPP at the time, the meeting had been convened specifically to consider Mr Afoko’s suspension, and, therefore, he could not have been expected to chair it himself.
Earlier that morning, a vigilante group from Kasoa, allegedly intending to disrupt the meeting, clashed violently with the party’s private security group, the Invincible Forces, resulting in injuries and damage to property.
Heavily armed police personnel, numbering about 15, were later deployed to secure the NPP headquarters and allow the meeting to proceed.
