<<Print>>

One of the Aspirants vying for the National Chairmanship position of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Paul Afoko has revealed that his primary objective for joining the race is to help unite the party in a genuine way and to lead the fight into the 2016 �and Insha Allah, NPP will win power and Ghana will return to its former glory�. Mr. Afoko's bid to lead the NPP was hit by a setback following a petition but he says the three weeks that his supporters were virtually sitting on tenterhooks had rather strengthened him. The Vetting and Election Committee of the party after a meeting on Wednesday declared the petition as unfounded, giving Mr. Afoko the all clear to contest the election slated for 12th April in Tamale. At a well-attended press conference yesterday, Mr. Afoko who recounted his �ordeal� stated that,�I call it a baptism of fire and in a way the party was only preparing me for the arduous task of being the National Chairman of our great party. I took it as a man. I did not go round crying about it.Indeed I feel extremely privileged to have been the only candidate who actually went under the scrutiny of the dreaded INTERPOL and came out clean�. Published below is the statement he read. Good morning Ladies and Gentlemen of the media and thank you for honoring our invitation even at such a short notice. I am sure that by now you all have heard the news; Paul Afoko has qualified to run for the Chairmanship position of the NPP. This follows the clearance that was given me by the party�s Vetting Committee yesterday. A comprehensive report from Interpol division Police Department of England has shown that Paul Afoko is not known to them at all. I have never been arrested and /or convicted for any crime throughout my over thirty years stay in England. Indeed not even for a motor traffic offence. I want to use this opportunity to thank the National Council of the NPP, the Elders of the party, the members of the Vetting Committee, and particularly the constituency and regional executives who stood with me throughout the period of the great suspense. As I told them, I never been involved in any of the allegations that were thrown at me and I want to emphasize here that I will never disappoint them. I thank the vetting committee because at the end of the day the petition served a good purpose. Even thoughl felt unfairly treated,the experience has toughened me. I call it a baptism of fire and in a way the party was only preparing me for the arduous task of being the National Chairman of our great party.I took it as a man. I did not go round crying about it.Indeed I feel extremely privileged to have been the only candidate who actually went under the scrutiny of the dreaded INTERPOL and came out clean. But now all that is over and all that is in the past. Now I want to build bridges into the future. I want to make it clear that my primary objective for joining the race is to help unite this party in a genuine way and to lead the fight into the 2016 and Insha Allah, NPP will win power and Ghana will return to its former glory. What our party needs today is a disciplined and professional management. A management that is strategic in its thinking. A management that has political power as its focus and nothing else. A management that understands the dynamics of our national politics and is prepared to bite the bullet to make things happen and a management that is accountable and transparent. I am prepared to provide all these when given the chance. Yes in the past I have sponsored people for this very job, but now the situation is critical and I have to come into the forefront myself. I have a plan. It is called the NEW PLAN for POWER. I have discussed bits and pieces of the plan with the constituency executives of our party I want to be given the opportunity to roll out the plan as the National Chairman of this Party and I have no doubt in my mind that victory will be ours in 2016. We have missed two opportunities already but we cannot afford to miss a third one. This country needs a better, more experienced and a visionary leadership. I call on all delegates to stand with me. I will not promise them heaven but I can promise that whoever the party selects as its Presidential Candidate, I Paul Afoko will make sure that he or she goes into the Jubilee House as the next President of this country. That I promise. I also promise to bring every member of this party (and I mean every member) together and on board for the common good of our party and the country.My greatest desire is to see the NPP together as one, strong and vibrant to do battle in the next general elections. I also want to thank the media for standing by me throughout the troubled period and for offering me your various platforms to articulate my vision for the party. I am grateful to you all and to all Ghanaians. God bless us all.