The Minority Leader in Parliament, Osahen Alexander Afenyo-Markin has emphasised that internal disunity, ambition, and sabotage contributed to the 2024 defeat of the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
He warned that without unity, even the most talented leader is powerless.
“Let us end the hate campaigns and the subtle sabotage. It is time to choose unity over ego, and party over self. No individual is bigger than the NPP,” he charged.
The Minority leader who is also the Member of Parliament (MP) for Effutu, encouraged aspiring presidential candidates to approach their ambitions with humility.
He stressed that there is room for all at the table, but no room for selfish ambition.
Osahen Afenyo-Markin challenged the NPP to emulate Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s model of grassroots organization, principled leadership, and national vision to resurrect the party.
According to him, Modi’s rise from international rejection to global acclaim as a symbol of political resurrection is a path that the NPP should walk on to get back into government.
Modi’s journey, he said, offers the NPP a roadmap from its current wilderness to future victory.
“We must become a party of Ghana talking to Ghana,” Osahen Afenyo-Markin added.
4 pillars to rebuild NPP
At a charged NPP National Delegates Conference on Saturday on the theme ‘Rebuilding Together with Our Values”, Osahen Afenyo-Markin again called for unity, introspection, and renewal within the NPP.
The Minority Leader anchored his vision for rebuilding the NPP on four key pillars: Unity over division; Return to NPP values; Grassroots mobilisation; and rebranding through results.
“We are not Akyem, Ashanti, Ga, or Ewe—we are NPP. We are not north or south – we are Ghana first. Danquah, Busia, and Dombo were men of principle. We abandoned our principles, not our policies. Perhaps we became a party talking to itself in Accra. Constituency executives must master every polling station. Better slogans won’t save us. Better results will,” he stated.
‘NPP should be proud of its achievements’
In an unapologetic defense of the former NPP administration, Osahen Afenyo-Markin stated that the party’s defeat in the 2024 elections was not born out of failure but a perfect storm of adversity, from the banking crisis to COVID-19 to the Russia-Ukraine war.
“Yet, with Nana Akufo-Addo in the driving seat, we held the line,” he said.
Osahen Afenyo-Markin cited achievements including Free SHS, unprecedented road construction, digitalisation, and economic recovery as legacies the NDC is now rebranding as its own.
“Fellow Patriots, rather than feeling sorry for ourselves, let us face the truth: we took the hard, necessary decisions to save this economy – and now John Mahama’s government is taking propaganda credit, reaping where it has not sown. When they talk about ‘resetting’— whether it’s the so-called 24-hour economy, GoldBod or anything else – they are simply rebranding our achievements and marketing them as their own.
“Let no one be deceived: the foundation they are standing on was laid by this party, by our sacrifices, and by our bold leadership in the face of crisis,” the Minority Leader pointed out.
NDC’s failures
Turning his guns on the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC), Osahen Afenyo-Markin did not mince words about the challenges facing the party and the nation.
According to him, the NDC is a failure, and that Ghana deserves better, citing increased fuel levies, the mishandling of illegal mining (galamsey), and what he described as ‘a brazen assault on the judiciary.’
He condemned recent political violence, especially during the Ablekuma North rerun, where NPP figures including Nana Akua Afriyie and former MP Hawa Koomson were reportedly attacked.
“These attacks are not random; they are strategic attempts to weaken us. But they will fail because our response will be unity,” he vowed.
The Minority Leader invoked both Scripture and political conviction, stressing, “Though we walk through the valley of the shadow of death, we fear no evil!”
He urged the party to rebuild with courage, reimagine its future by reclaiming the spirit that built the NPP. “We shall rise again!” he stressed.
By Osumanu Al-Hassan
