Afenyo-Markin, a Leader or a Loser?

When the NPP appointed Afenyo-Markin as its majority leader in February 2024 following the covert sacking of Hon. Osei Kyei Mensah-Bonsu, which was camouflaged and presented to the public as a resignation, the NPP held 137 seats.

Following the tragic death of Hon. John Kumah, a by-election was held in the Ejisu Constituency, which Afenyo-Markin managed to retain.

The first major test for Afenyo-Markin as majority leader was the Presidential and Parliamentary elections held on 7th December 2024. Having been handed the baton to lead 137 Members of Parliament for the NPP on 23rd February 2024, the NPP managed to grab a paltry 88 or so seats.

A real honourable should have resigned as leader of the NPP caucus in Parliament in the aftermath of this thrashing at the December 2024 polls, but without any shame and remorse, he schemed, and the NPP national leadership for the second time, catastrophically appointed him as minority leader; a position that he had previously rejected when it was comfortably conferred on him following the withdrawal of the MP for Fomena’s support for the NPP Parliamentary caucus, that legally turned the NPP into the minority without question.

However, aided and abetted by the then Chief Justice, Gertrude Torkornoo, he circumvented the law to stay on temporarily as majority leader until he was swept away from that borrowed position by the tsunami of 7th December 2024.

In the aftermath of the tragic death of the MP for Akwatia, Hon. Ernest Kumi in July 2025, a by-election was held, which Afenyo-Markin made sure that the NPP lost. Just before this by-election, he had stood aloof without any sense of urgency and proceeded to wash his hands off the Ablekuma North seat and it slipped away.

Another by-election came up in Tamale Central in the wake of the GAF helicopter crash that resulted in the death of Hon. Murtala Mohammed, the MP for Tamale Central. Still reeling from the Akwatia thrashing, Afenyo-Markin, who is widely perceived as a coward, led the NPP to withdraw from that contest for fear of being humiliated.

With the election of Hon. Matthew Nyindam as MP for Kpandai having been declared null and void by the High Court, Tamale, a by-election is inevitable, notwithstanding his appeal, which at best maybe described as frivolous and vexatious. The by-election in Kpandai is expected to come off in January next year, since per Article 99(2) of the Constitution 1992, Parliamentary election disputes ends at the Court of Appeal; unless his lawyers decide to test the pulse of the Supreme Court by way of seeking leave from it to grant them audience.

With Afenyo-Markin as the torchbearer of the NPP micro/mighty minority (depending on the lens with which one is looking at the minority), it is not only possible to circumvent such a constitutional provision, but also doable!!

From the above facts, it is submitted that Afenyo-Markin is definitely NOT a leader, but rather a LOSER! Should he remain the minority leader of the NPP caucus until the 2028 general elections, its Presidential candidate will struggle to garner 35% of the total votes cast at the Presidential Poll, and the NPP would have done exceptionally well if it managed to go home with 80 Parliamentary seats.

With a criminal charge of assault and battery hanging over his neck like an albatross following the unprovoked slapping of a Police Officer, the NPP need not be told what to do, since it is apparent that their Parliamentary Leader has metamorphosed from a guest to a trespasser and ought to be removed forcefully if he fails to leave willingly!

Alhassan Salifu Bawah
(son of an upright peasant farmer)