Outspoken politician, businessman and United Renaissance Party founder Charles Eric Kofi Wayo has died at Nyaho Clinic in Accra aged 71.

Published 7 Nov 2026, 19:53 GMT

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Politician and businessman Kofi Wayo (file photo)

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Ghanaian politician, businessman and United Renaissance Party founder Charles Eric Kofi Wayo, popularly known as "Chuck", has died in Accra. He was 71.

He died in the early hours of Saturday, November 7, at Nyaho Medical Centre in Accra. His family has not yet announced funeral arrangements or a cause of death.

Although he never held public office, his readiness to challenge successive administrations made him one of the Fourth Republic's most recognisable political mavericks.

Political career across three parties

Wayo first rose to prominence in the early 2000s as an outspoken critic of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) administration after returning to Ghana from abroad.

He later joined the New Patriotic Party (NPP).

After the NPP won power in 2001 under President John Agyekum Kufuor, Wayo grew critical of the administration's economic management. In December 2003 he called a press conference in Accra to announce he was leaving the party, saying it had abandoned what it promised ordinary people.

Following a brief association with the People's National Convention (PNC), he set up the United Renaissance Party (URP), registered in 2006. He led the party and was endorsed as its presidential candidate ahead of the 2012 general election.

Shift from partisan politics to agriculture

"I am now into farming and assisting the farmers in the villages with implements and other logistics unlike their MPs who are cruising in Land Cruisers and don't care about them," he told Graphic Online at the time.

He largely withdrew from public appearances in the years that followed, living quietly until his death on Saturday morning.

Araba IncoomAraba Incoom writes on multiple topics with a vast knowledge across different sector. You can almost call me an AI, after all, my initials are Araba Incoom.

Kofi Wayo: Ghanaian politician and United Renaissance Party founder dies at 71

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