By Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr., Ph.D.

Following his resounding electoral victory as National Chairman of the main opposition New Patriotic Party (NPP) in the Northern Regional Capital of Tamale, Mr. Paul Afoko sent a strong and resonant signal that he was now his own man and, in effect, his decision to back whoever the party nominates as candidate for the 2016 presidential election would be squarely based on the concerned candidate's having sailed through the baptism of fire on his/her own merits (See "I'm No Flagbearer Aspirant's Proxy; I Walk Alone - Afoko" Ghanaweb.com 4/13/14).

In the past, the renowned businessman and NPP stalwart had been widely, staunchly and publicly associated with the presidential aspirations of Mr. Alan John Kwadwo "Quitman" Kyerematen. And twice, Mr. Afoko had championed the cause of Mr. Kyerematen, a former Ghana ambassador to the United States and subsequently Trade and Industry Minister under President John Agyekum-Kufuor, and gotten savaged at least once for his stance and efforts. And on both occasions, also, his trophy horse had been resoundingly trounced by Nana Addo Dankwa Akufo-Addo, whom Mr. Kyerematen had conspicuously and repeatedly refused to campaign for.

In 2008, the first time that he was trounced by Nana Akufo-Addo, for instance, Mr. Kyerematen abruptly and mischievously resigned from the New Patriotic Party, citing the sidelining of his supporters by the Akufo-Addo Campaign as his sole pretext. Interestingly, however, a Committee of Elders established by members of the party's top hierarchy conclusively determined that Alan Cash, as he is popularly known, harbored a personal vendetta against the man who had defeated him, and that his decision to vacate his vantage membership of the New Patriotic Party way purely self-serving.

That conclusion, as yours truly vividly recalls, was authoritatively drawn and pronounced by no less of a distinguished personality than the immortalized Mr. Joe daRocha. Having, once again, been convincingly defeated in his bid for the party's 2012 presidential nomination, Mr. Kyerematen would use an opening in the CEO position on the World Trade Organization (WTO) as a diversionary tactic and strategy to suavely excuse himself from campaigning for Nana Akufo-Addo, unlike the latter who had vigorously campaigned for the now-former President Kufuor (Alan Cash's relative and widely touted chief political patron) to bring the NPP to power for the first time in Ghana's Fourth Republic in 2000 and, again, in 2004.

That both Messrs. Akufo-Addo and Kyerematen lost their respective bids for the Ghanaian presidency and the CEO-ship of the World Trade Organization, may very well indicate the inextricable interlinkage of the fortunes of these two gentlemen. Mr. Afoko appears to be very mindful of this morally instructive state of affairs, thus his solemn and poignant call for party unity and cohesion in the make-or-break lead-up to the 2016 presidential election. "We need to close ranks and work as a team," a triumphant Mr. Afoko was reported to have declared in his chairmanship acceptance speech on Saturday night in the Northern Regional Capital of Tamale.

"Let us unite to take this party back to power in 2016," Mr. Afoko had reportedly urged party operatives and stalwarts. "And as you go home, prepare for governance, prepare for power." Now, that is the welcome pep-talk of a determined party chief.

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*Kwame Okoampa-Ahoofe, Jr., Ph.D.
Department of English
Nassau Community College of SUNY
Garden City, New York
April 13, 2014
E-mail: okoampaahoofe@optimum.net
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