National Chairman hopeful of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Mr Paul Awentami Afoko, says his vetting was defined by candid, wide-ranging exchanges with the committee a departure, he suggested, from a routine box-ticking exercise.

“There was a lot of frank discussion,” Afoko told journalists after the session at the party’s Greater Accra Regional headquarters in Kokomlemle.

He said after his vetting at Kokomlemle on Monday August 31, 2026, that the frankness extended to questions he had not anticipated, testing him beyond prepared talking points.

“The process, I believe, was fair. It was firm. And in fact, there was a lot of frank discussion, and the calibre of the committee is not small,” he said. “The way they posed certain questions that even I had not anticipated, some of them I will definitely include in my strategy planning for the party going into 2028.”

That candour, however, stopped short of the specifics. Afoko declined to disclose what was actually discussed, citing a confidentiality agreement signed before the session began.

“ I signed a document before they started questioning me, a confidentiality document. I can’t discuss it, especially when it involves the strategy we plan to use to get into power in 2028. So forgive me if I don’t go into that,” he stated.

Even without detailing the exchange, Afoko was clear that the frank nature of the discussion left an impression, describing the committee as one of genuine substance rather than a formality to get through.

He said he came away from the session confident in how he had handled it.

“I didn’t think there was anything that I couldn’t answer, and I had no indication that anybody was dissatisfied with my answers. So I rate my chances as good,” he said.

Afoko added that his campaign continues to build momentum nationwide, with several regions already covered.

“I know that the campaign is going well. I have done quite a few regions so far, and after today I am setting off to continue campaigning around the country,” he added.

The vetting forms part of the NPP’s internal processes ahead of its national elections as the party prepares for the 2028 general elections.

By: Jacob Aggrey