By Issah Olegor
Tensions escalated dramatically in the Ablekuma North Constituency on Friday, July 11, when a group of unidentified men believed to be NDC hoodlums stormed a polling station and physically assaulted New Patriotic Party (NPP) parliamentary candidate, Nana Akua Afriyieh, and former Fisheries Minister, Mavis Hawa Koomson, during the parliamentary rerun.
The violent incident occurred at one of the 19 designated polling stations where the Electoral Commission (EC) was conducting a rerun following the annulment of results from the December 7, 2024, general elections due to irregularities.
The rerun was expected to restore parliamentary representation to the constituency, which has remained without an MP for about seven months.
Eyewitnesses described the attack as a well-coordinated intrusion that threw the voting process into chaos.
The assailants, believed to be politically motivated, stormed the polling station in broad daylight, triggering panic among voters and disrupting proceedings.
Security officers deployed at the centre were initially overwhelmed and struggled to bring the situation under control.
Former Minister Hawa Koomson, who had arrived to support her party’s candidate, was seen in viral videos being shoved to the ground by the attackers.
Nana Akua Afriyieh was also targeted, with reports indicating that she sustained injuries during the scuffle.
“Oh oh oh see how Hawa Koomson is rolling on the floor! Rerun? What is happening, Ghana Police?” lamented a shocked eyewitness on X (formerly Twitter), as footage of the attack circulated widely.
Despite the Ghana Police Service’s earlier assurances of adequate security, the presence of officers at the polling centre failed to prevent the breach.
The violent scenes have renewed criticism of law enforcement’s preparedness and raised serious concerns about voter and candidate safety during electoral processes in Ghana.
The NPP officially boycotted the rerun, but Nana Akua Afriyieh defied the party’s directive and continued her campaign, deepening internal tensions within the ruling party.
Her decision to contest despite the boycott has intensified scrutiny of political divisions within the NPP and has possibly made her a target.
The main opposition candidate, Awurabena Aubynn of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), remained largely unaffected by the chaos, though her campaign team has condemned the violence and called for calm.
The Electoral Commission has yet to issue a statement on the incident but has assured voters of its commitment to ensuring a credible process despite the disturbances.
