New Patriotic Party (NPP) National Chairman aspirant Paul Awentami Afoko has disclosed that he was once accused of dealing in cocaine and being imprisoned abroad during a party vetting process, allegations he says were later disproved through an Interpol investigation.
Afoko said the accusations forced him to suspend his campaign activities for about six weeks while his background was investigated.
Speaking in an interview on Akoma FM on August 6, 2026, the former NPP National Chairman said individuals who opposed his vetting alleged that he was a cocaine dealer and had served a prison sentence outside Ghana.
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According to him, the allegations were serious enough for his details to be submitted to Interpol for verification.
“Those who tried to stop me at my vetting said I was a cocaine dealer abroad and that I had been jailed abroad. So, they said they wouldn’t pass me through the vetting and that I should go. I had to go and sit at home for six weeks,” he said.
Afoko said he remained at home while awaiting the outcome of the investigation, but was later asked by the party to resume his campaign even though the Interpol report had not yet been received.
“They took my details to Interpol to investigate me at their headquarters in Manchester,” he said.
He explained that after six weeks, he was informed that he could continue with his campaign and that he would be contacted once the report became available.
Afoko said he later decided to personally visit the Interpol office at the Criminal Investigations Department (CID) Headquarters to find out what had happened to the report.
According to him, officials told him that the report had already been submitted to the NPP.
He said he was subsequently given access to the file and found that the report did not support the allegations made against him.
“I asked them about the report, but they said they had already given it to the party. So, they gave me the file, and when I looked at it, Interpol had stated that Paul Afoko was clean,” he said.
Afoko further claimed that the report indicated that he was not known to prison institutions around the world.
“They said I was unknown to all prison institutions in the world,” he added.
The NPP chairmanship aspirant also spoke about his financial support for the party’s grassroots structures at the time.
He said he encouraged every constituency in the party to open bank accounts and personally donated GH¢10,000 to each account.
According to Afoko, the money was intended to support constituency-level activities, including attendance at funerals, outdooring ceremonies and other party engagements.
“I made every constituency in the party open bank accounts at the time, and I donated GH¢10,000 to every account because those people are the grassroots working for the party,” he said.
Afoko suggested that his extensive financial support for grassroots structures may have contributed to speculation surrounding his activities.
The former NPP National Chairman is currently seeking to return to the party’s national leadership as an aspirant for the position of National Chairman.
His latest comments come as the opposition party continues its internal reorganisation following its defeat in the 2024 general elections.
Afoko’s account of the Interpol investigation is based on his own recollection of the events. The claims surrounding the investigation and the alleged report have not been independently verified from Interpol in the account provided.
Afoko nevertheless maintains that the investigation cleared him and that the allegations made during his vetting were unfounded.