Wednesday, 16th July, 2025
Hon Alexander Kwamena Afenyo-Markin
Effutu
Mr Speaker, thank you for the opportunity to make a Statement on the incident of lawlessness at Ablekuma North parliamentary re-run election.
Mr Speaker, the violent incident that occurred and marred the parliamentary re-run election in Ablekuma North requires condemnation. This House and, indeed, the nation must take very seriously the coordinated act of violence, intimidation and lawlessness that occurred on 11th July, 2025. These events present one of the most dangerous assaults on our democratic order since return to constitutional rule in 1992.
Mr Speaker, this was not merely an electoral misconduct. What happened in Ablekuma North was a calculated military-style operation targeted at disrupting our electoral process and intimidating political opponents. If left unchecked, it risks normalising political violence in our democratic culture.
Mr Speaker, permit me to highlight some of the deeply disturbing incidents. Firstly, at St Peter’s Society Methodist Church polling station, a group of thugs stormed the premises on motorbikes and in vehicles. Hon Hawa Koomson, a former Member of Parliament (MP), was physically assaulted in broad daylight. Our parliamentary candidate, Nana Akua Owusu Afriyie, sustained some injuries to her face. Former MP, Darkoaa Newman, and several other New Patriotic Party (NPP) agents were also attacked. Electoral officials fled and voters were terrorised.
At Awoshie Driver and Vehicle Licensing Authority (DVLA) polling station, individuals dressed in brown uniform impersonated security personnel to gain access and misled voters until they were confronted and they failed, in that instance, to provide any form of identification. Elsewhere, including Asiedu Gyedu Memorial School, confrontation between thugs and police officers created chaos and endangered lives.
Even journalists were not spared, Mr Speaker. A Joy News reporter and Agyekum Banahene of GH One TV were attacked. In fact, a police officer assaulted the latter while on duty. Mr Speaker, this is a direct attack on press freedom and the right of citizens to be informed. These were not isolated events. This was a deliberate orchestration of violence across multiple polling stations. And what is even more troubling, Mr Speaker, is that some officials have not only failed to condemn these acts but have celebrated them openly and publicly.
Mr Speaker, for those public officers who have endorsed this political violence, I say that it is a breach of public trust and a dangerous precedent that undermines democratic foundation of Ghana. Equally disturbing are the growing concerns about the negligence of the Ghana Police Service (GPS). Allegations have surfaced implicating Chief Superintendent Lumor Frederick Senanu in facilitating this act. Whether by omission or commission, the Police Service failed to protect lives and the sanctity of the electoral process in Ablekuma North.
Mr Speaker, Ghana’s democracy is at crossroads. We must not allow this dissent into lawlessness to define our politics. That is why the Minority Caucus demands the following: A full-scale investigation into the matter. A full-scale prosecution of individuals who will be identified as perpetrators of the violence. A clear and unambiguous condemnation of the violence from Government, including apologies to those who were particularly victimised: Chris Lloyd Nii Kwei, the Deputy National Organiser, Hawa Koomson and our candidate Nana Akua Owusu Afriyie.
Mr Speaker, we must not allow political violence to become normalised. Ghana’s democracy must not be turned into a battlefield. The time to act is now. To the people of Ablekuma North, do not be cowed into silence. The right to vote is sacred and must never be trampled by fear or force. To civil society and all defenders of democracy, your voices are needed now than ever. The Minority Caucus, Mr Speaker, will continue to use every constitutional means available to it to protect Ghana’s democratic order and ensure that no political actor ever weaponises violence for electoral advantage again.
Mr Speaker, our country, Ghana, stands at the crossroads. Government must choose and uphold democratic values or shelter those who undermine them. The choice Government makes, in the coming days, will define this legacy of this Government and the direction of our democracy.
May God bless Ghana and strengthen our republic and Mr Speaker, I thank you.
Hon Laadi Ayii Ayamba
Pusiga
Mr Speaker, thank you very much for the opportunity to contribute to the Statement ably made by the Minority Leader.
Mr Speaker, first of all, I wish to condemn all forms of violence, no matter where and no matter what time. It is most unfortunate that this is the first time I have heard in my fourth term in Parliament that after the numerous electoral violence that has occurred in this country, this is a special one. I would have stayed off mentioning the name of my sister, Hawa Koomson, but once her name is on the Statement and it has been mentioned, I will do that.
Mr Speaker, Hon Hawa Koomson knows very well that apart from the atrocities that have ever occurred in her own constituency, where lives were lost, if she went to that very election and came out without any problem, it would have all come from her attitude. Yet, I was shocked when I learnt that she used pepper spray. Pepper spray! And I saw her actually spraying it.
Mr Speaker, in the video, I looked at it more than five or six times and I saw her actually spraying it. I was shocked because I observed and listened to people who said that she is a woman and a lady; we should not do that and we are not respecting women. Yes. We are all trying as much as we can, to make sure that women are respected everywhere, but she, as a woman, must first of all respect herself. She must make sure that she knows and lives as someone who is ready to support and protect lives as a woman. If she says because she is a woman, she goes about spraying pepper, was she going to select the women there, so that the pepper does not get into their eyes? What about the children? Was she going to select them? What about the officers that we are now talking about? Was she going to select them? This is because any pepper spray that is gushed out will not select anybody. Yet, this was what happened. Unfortunately, it came from no other person but a woman.
Mr Speaker, are we saying that this is the first time that we have had such a problem? This is not the first time. I was a victim at the Atiwa by-election. I ran back to Accra like it was no one’s business. So, it is not the first time. I never heard a word being uttered. Mr Speaker, what did we not see at Techiman South? What lives have we not lost? Lives; we lost lives. What investigations have been done? Who has been brought to book? What have we done to make sure that Ghanaians know that, at least, once we are running a democracy, we do not want such atrocities? What have we done? Nothing. Were they not human beings? Were they not Ghanaians? Were they not voters? Do they not have the right to life? Yet, we have not heard anything up till date.
Mr Speaker, at Ayawaso West Wuogon, we witnessed even our own Colleague, Hon Sam George, being beaten. Sam George of all people. He received the worst slap that anybody could have thought of. And till date, we have not heard anything about it. Those whose legs were broken have, today, become vegetables of human beings. They are just there. They are just living and waiting on others to give them to feed. We have not heard anything. No Statement; nobody has said anything. It looked like it was just some flies that fell somewhere.
Mr Speaker, we cannot forget about Awutu Senya. We cannot forget about what happened there. The shooting was direct, not that it was a “go-come” matter. Odododiodoo; all these are things that have happened in our presence and in our lives. If we want to condemn and to be seen as doing the right things and ensuring that our democracy thrives, we should make sure that it is not a selective thing. It should not be selective. If we are being selective, it is not fair. Yes, I agree that what happened yesterday that was wrong, should not be done today because two wrongs do not make a right. That is true. But it is not when you continue pinching my eye that you tell me that I should not close it. Every day you do the same wrong to me, I keep quiet, and then you think that I should never say anything because you think that, no, you are right, so I should not say anything? That is not acceptable.
It is unfortunate that it is a woman and it is unfortunate that it has recurred, not from any other person but someone who has ever done it somewhere. Let us be careful and conscious. She is a former Minister. Today, we are calling for the heads of women who are Ministers or women who are Chief Executives. Was she not a Minister?
Let me reiterate that she is not someone whom I would wish to stand and talk against. But when something is wrong, like you have said, it is wrong; and it is not acceptable Yes, I am saying this because it has happened before and happened to me. It is the same thing that is happening. If we do not let her know that it is a kind of worry, it could repeat itself, and we do not want it to be repeated.
Mr Speaker, to wind up, let me say that what is good for the goose is good for the gander. So, let us be conscious of ourselves.
Hon Kwame Anyimadu-Antwi
Asante Akim Central
Mr Speaker, I would want to thank the Hon Minority Leader, Osahen Afenyo-Markin, for making this important Statement in the House.
Mr Speaker, the Statement is very important because this unwarranted lifestyle continues in the country. This has been happening to politicians. The two main political parties are in this Chamber. I am sad today because we should come together as a House and make sure that this is stopped in the country, and it does not continue.
Mr Speaker, this must not be business as usual. I have witnessed and heard a number of atrocities being committed in the country. We have had by-elections at Talensi and Chereponi. I was an eyewitness of the by-election that we held at the then Atiwa Constituency on 31st August, 2010. Yes, also in Ayawaso and other other places. Mr Speaker, I can speak to what I have witnessed. I was at Atiwa, and I saw with my naked eyes that thugs were in a bus. The main thing they were doing was to go around and beat people just to prevent others from voting. The person beingbeaten could be a brother or a sister or it could be anybody.
Mr Speaker, we must come together as one people and fight this. When things had gone on in this House, we made a law. We made a law that we have to dismantle vigilantes. After the passage of the law, it still continues. I was in this House when I heard a statement like “violence begets violence”. I would not want to remind anybody of names. But I am saddened because we tried to justify this unholy act in the name of elections. We tried to justify it because in the name of elections, people are dying and we do not care. In the name of elections, people are injured and we do not care. Mr Speaker, I am glad that the Minority Leader requests that there must be a full-scale investigation into this. Mr Speaker, with you—
Mr Speaker, I need your protection. With a great deal of respect, I need your protection. Mr Speaker, I pray that we must come together as a House. I would not want to react directly to what my Sister has said. But in this full-scale investigation, we would know, as a country, what we have to keep on ourselves by way of protection. I would have thought that under normal circumstances, a lady having a pepper spray in her bag would serve as a form of defence when a person is being attacked
Mr Speaker, if we do not fight this, it would not end today. Everything else had been on hearsay. I would not want to go on with the circumstances that led to the usage or non-usage of the pepper spray. That is why I pray, Mr Speaker, and I support the maker of the Statement that there must be a full-scale investigation into this act that happened in only 19 polling stations that we were conducting elections. We cannot say that because the people who had been beaten were on the side of one political party, and I belong to the other political party, I have to support the unwarranted behaviour that had gone on.
Mr Speaker, I pray, we must come together as a House, and it is only in this House that we can stop what is going on. Otherwise, it may lead to a time that we cannot control the situation. Mr Speaker, I support the request of the maker of the Statement, that there must be, either a committee or a special ad hoc committee to go into this. Then we look at how we can put brakes or eliminate this behaviour from us as politicians. That is the only thing that can save this country. We have passed the law; it did not work. Let us come together—
Mr Speaker, I know that if we go on, at every by-election we have situations and if it is not against the New Patriotic Party (NPP), it is against the National Democratic Congress (NDC). If it is not in favour of the NDC, it is in favour ofthe NPP. But we cannot continue like this, when others are suffering. Mr Speaker, let us get into this and find solutions to this problem.
Hon Felix Kwakye Ofosu
Abura-Asebu-Kwamankese
Mr Speaker, the unfortunate altercation which occurred at the Ablekuma North by-election made for very difficult viewing. It is something that nobody can defend.
But, Mr Speaker, I recall that in the early 2000s, when I first set foot in this House to look for then Hon Minority Leader, Rt Hon Alban Bagbin, who now is the Speaker of this House. Mr Speaker, he gave me a copy of Geoffrey Bing’s seminal work, “Reap the Whirlwind”. Little did I know that that title was actually a famous biblical verse, which says you have sowed the wind, and you shall reap the whirlwind. Mr Speaker, let me place it on record. I was a student at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST). I was a Tertiary Education Institutions Network (TEIN) executive. But Mr Speaker
A critical test must be held on anything that Members of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) say in respect of this particular incident and it is a test of sincerity. Mr Speaker, if we carry out a cursory examination of the positions taken by our Friends sitting on the other Side, on the many acts of impunity and raw terrorism which occurred between 2017 and 2024. Very few or none of them would have been heard condemning those incidents. No sooner had they come into power than they formed groups with bloodcurdling names, such as: ‘‘Invisible Forces, Delta Forces’’ and what have you.
Mr Speaker, we witnessed a situation where in 2019, during the Ayawaso West Wuogon by-election, State sponsored thugs— Thank you very much, Mr Speaker. There is no doubt that what the thugs associated with the NPP did in Ayawaso West Wuogon and in places like the Kumasi courts where they barged in and freed their Colleagues standing trial amounted to terrorism. Mr Speaker, terrorism is simply the use of violence to achieve political ends. What is most worrying is that any time those thugs got into trouble, it was officials of the NPP who went to their aid.
Mr Speaker, at the time, nobody on their Side read a Statement here that we should condemn those actions. Mr Speaker, whereas I sympathise with what Hon Hawa Koomson went through and there is no way I will condone that kind of conduct, she herself has been historically involved in acts that pass for violence during elections. She admitted publicly to firing guns at polling stations during the 2020 limited registration exercise.
Mr Speaker, we know that there are members of the NDC who today have been maimed. Some have actually lost their lives out of violence that she is believed to have instigated. When one does these things, the person calls violence upon himself or herself. So, I agree in principle that firm action has to be taken to stamp out this spectre of violence that has characterised almost every by-election in our country. But let not those who in the recent past were sponsoring these acts of terrorism against opponents suddenly pretend that they are against it. They are not.
Mr Speaker, in all the eight years that they remained in power, what concrete action did they take in the many acts of violence that took place? There is a Commission of Enquiry report which identifies individuals who are known members of their party and says they should be sanctioned for the wrongs that they did. Mr Speaker, the Emile Short Commission identified specific individuals for prosecution. No sooner had that report come out than their Government issue a white paper insisting that those gentlemen engaged in those acts of terrorism because they were provoked.
Mr Speaker, a party that endorsed violence during elections cannot come today and call for investigations into acts of violence. It is those of us who condemned it in the past and are condemning it today who have the right to make such a call. So, even in the wake of the events at Ablekuma North, their officials are on record to have vowed that there will be violence at Akwatia. Even as they call for action to be taken, they are threatening violence.
Indeed, we all recall that in 2012 the then candidate Akufo-Addo openly praised the use of violence as a political tool. When he said, ‘‘Atiwa, yɛkyerɛ biribi kakra wↄ hↄ’’. Mr Speaker, the same Nana Akufo-Addo is on record to have said, ‘‘all die, be die’’. Mr Speaker Hon Kennedy Agyapong went on public radio and called on Akans to attack Gas. Mr Speaker, when he was prosecuted and released by a court, they carried him shoulder-high and poured powder on him to celebrate those comments. People with this kind of record cannot possibly purport today to be opposed to terrorism and acts of violence.
Mr Speaker, let us have a discussion about sanitising our politics, but let us eschew insincerity and duplicity in the discourse. Let us take firm action against those— Who threaten violence at elections, but let us not accept hypocrisy. Let us not accept the politics of convenience that, today, it is Hawa Koomson and so all hell must break loose. Mr Speaker, I am for strengthening the laws against electoral violence. Let the law take its full course, no matter who is involved.
Thank you very much, Mr Speaker.
Hon Dominic Bingab Aduna Nitiwul
Bimbilla
Mr Speaker, thank you very much.
Mr Speaker, I want to lend support to my Leader for the Statement that he made and I do so knowing that, Mr Speaker, as you all know, I had the privilege to serve as Minister for Defence for eight years and one of the cries, not just cries, but big concerns of my Friends on the opposite Side was the fact that people were violent and that we should do something about it. In fact, at every least occasion, they made sure that they made the whole world to understand that there was violence, whether it was election or a gathering, especially when we had opposing views. I am very surprised today that after complaining like that and getting power for only seven months, they would unleash this type of violence in a by-election where we have just 19 polling stations. They asked the then President, Akufo-Addo, to do something; he enacted a legislation. The NPP had vigilantes just like them, but we disbanded all of them.That is why they did not see them at Ablekuma.
Mr Speaker, they should remember they are in government. The safety of every citizen is in their hands. It is no more in the hands of the people over here. It is dangerous for people in government to be justifying violence, especially by Ministers of State. The best they can do for the people of Ghana is not to speak. In fact, the best they can do for the people of Ghana is to ask the police to go out and arrest the people. I am happy that this is live and Ghanaians are watching—
Mr Speaker, some people have forgotten. I will remind us. He knows—Those who have been here for long know that, in the Chereponi by-election, it is not someone, I witnessed an individual take a gun and shoot three people. Mr Speaker, if not for the expertise of Prof Kwabena FrimpongBoateng, those three people would have lost their lives. Mr Speaker, I was at Talensi by-election; we had to run for our lives. I was a polling station agent both in Chereponi and Talensi and we had to— Even though I was a polling station agent, I had to run for my life; thugs came and started shooting. Mr Speaker, at the Ayawaso West Wuogon by-election, the same thing happened. People had to run for their lives; some of them here run for their lives—People here also run for their lives. Mr Speaker, in Atiwa by-election, I was with my Colleague, Hon Kobby Darko-Mensah in the car with Hon Asiamah, the former MP. When we got to a polling station, the young men blocked us and they started shouting, “ɔmoreba”, so they should beat them. And when they saw the NPP flag, they said, “We should go”.
Mr Speaker, when we asked them why, they said that they had brought thugs from Accra— Mr Speaker, the young men at the polling station told us that people had brought thugs from Accra and they wanted to teach those thugs a lesson. Mr Speaker, when you add up all these incidents, from the 2000 to the 2016 elections, the people of Ghana, including the Majority Side, said we are all tired and that we should do something about it. We came to this House to enact a legislation to disband all vigilantism, only to see that the NDC—Maybe, it is not the NDC; that is what we are calling—
Mr Speaker, only to see thugs at Ablekuma attacking people—Listen, this Statement is not about Hon Hawa Koomson. We will not allow anybody to make it a Statement of Hawa Koomson. Mr Speaker, the trade of all of us sitting here is in the business of politics: searching for votes and convincing people. We can all be victims. Mr Speaker, we do not know the next person; we have a by-election. If we do not do something about it, we do not know who the next person will be. Today, it is Hawa Koomson and they are gloating over it. They are happy and jubilating; we do not know the next victim Mr Speaker, I support the Minority Leader when he says that we should investigate in full, just like it happened for the Ayawaso West Wuogon byelection where we set up a Commission and people appeared on television and we saw the people. We are asking the President to do the same.
Mr Speaker, in the Ayawaso West Wuogon by-election, a Statement was made on this floor; the NDC demanded full investigation and the Government complied. Why are they running from investigation? Why are they running away from conducting investigation? I want to state that we all saw the videos. Mr Speaker, the polling station, which is the Methodist polling station where Hawa Koomson and her other colleagues were attacked, had close to 70 police officers. By the time the attack came, the police officers were over 30 and these vigilantes were able to overpower state actors; that is the sad part of it.
Mr Speaker, if young people do not respect uniform which is authority and can attack a politician, it does not matter whether it is Hawa, Nitiwul or Ayariga. But the fact that a policeman is wearing uniform and young people can attack that person means we are all endangered species. Mr Speaker, it is sad and frightening; they may be joking but when one allows people to think that they have been pushed to the wall, one does not know how they will react. It is sad and we are joking. This country is a peaceful country. We should not allow a few individuals to disturb the peace of this country. We should not allow a few individuals to destroy this country. I go around looking for votes and that is my business. So, if we have said that we cannot allow violence at the polling stations, so be it. How can we, as a country, say there are 19 polling stations and we allowed violence—
Mr Speaker, this is a very important Statement. Let us all be sober and reflect because if we do not, I always say—My Colleagues opposite, who have huge numbers in Parliament, should remember that they are in Government and anything bad that happens is their record. Any black dot is their record. If somebody dies in an election, it is their record. If somebody is maimed, it is their record. If somebody is beaten, it is their record. They should, please, disband their vigilantes. If they do not, they will be asking other people to form vigilante groups and we would not know the end.
Mr Speaker, I said that Parliament should immediately—If the Executive is refusing or does not get its act together and launch a full-scale investigation, then Parliament should do it. This is because we know the faces of the individuals behind the crime. We know all the faces. The police should go; crime does not have an expiry date. It can be hundred years; crime does not have an expiry date—
I thank you, Mr Speaker.
Hon Eric Edem Agbana
Ketu North
Mr Speaker, thank you for the opportunity to contribute to this very important Statement about election related violence and the course for justice.
Mr Speaker, as a Member of Parliament, I join all discerning Ghanaians who are condemning the violence that we saw at Ablekuma North last week Friday. Violence in an election is a threat to our democracy and we must all join hands to ensure that Ghanaians can go to the polls and vote for people that they wish to lead them without coming into contact with any act of violence. However, I find it very intriguing that the call for justice and the condemnation of what happened at Ablekuma North is coming from the Minority Side. I say so because just like my Hon Colleague, Mr Felix Kwakye Ofosu has said, under the New Patriotic Party (NPP) regime from 2017 to 2024, we saw how almost every election organised under them was characterised by violence and not just violence; state-sponsored violence.
Mr Speaker, I stand in this House today as a survivor of the January 2019 Ayawaso West Wuogon by-election violence. I went to the Legon Hall polling station as a national executive of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), properly accredited by the Electoral Commission. I had no weapon, not even a pen or paper and no pepper spray. I only went to the polling station as a national executive accredited by the Electoral Commission to observe elections.
But, Mr Speaker, men clad in national security apparel moved to me and attacked me. They did so in the presence of the military and that is why I am surprised that the former Minister for Defence, under whose watch we saw the military used for such pettiness, could today be demanding for investigation. What did he do when he was Minister for Defence? Mr Speaker, right in front of the military, the police and NPP national executives I was attacked. I have records of the voices and pictures of NPP officials who praised and even mocked Sam George and I that they could have done better or that the thugs should have beaten us better.
Mr Speaker, I condemn violence, but my point is that, he who calls for equity, if he cannot come with clean hands, at least, he should hold a hand sanitiser. What happened to the recommendations of the Ayawaso West Wuogon byelections? Today, if they sit in this Chamber to pontificate and pretend as though this is the first time—Mr Speaker, like I said, I went to the polling station with no weapon; yet, I was attacked.
Mr Speaker, again, in 2020, I was in Techiman South as an observer. I saw how people in military uniforms opened gun fire on NDC supporters. The videos are there and I can share for the records. If today, the preaching in this House is as though it is the first time we have seen— Like I said, I also support the call to condemn violence. However, like I said, those who are calling for justice should remember that just like the former Minister said, crime has no expiry date. There are victims of the Ayawaso West Wuogon violence of whom today, some have been amputated and are demanding for justice. All the families of the eight people who died in the 2020 elections, their families are demanding for justice.
Mr Speaker, the families of the people who were brutalised in Banda during registration because they were voltarians and they were being prevented from registering right in front of us are demanding for justice. The families of the people that were brutalised in Kasoa, including the people that Hawa Koomson herself admitted shooting at, those families are equally calling for justice. If we want to see an end to electoral violence, as all of us are preaching, Mr Speaker, let us stretch our hands in the investigative process and bring to book those men who are even easier to identify because they were in national security uniform. It means it was a state sponsored vigilantism. All of them must be brought to book and that level of terrorism in our elections will stop.
Mr Speaker, I have seen that President Mahama is different. President Mahama is different because in his first 100 days, he instructed the Inspector General of Police (IGP) to open investigations into the killings in the 2020 elections. We are told that the reports are ready. President Mahama is committed to ensuring that everybody who has been a victim of any electoral malpractice or violence will get the justice that they deserve.
Mr Speaker, I conclude by calling on the House, especially discerning Members of the House, to join me to pay a minute of silence in memory of Tuariq and the eight people who lost their lives in the 2020 elections and all others who lost their lives. I thank you, Mr Speaker.
Hon Kwabena Boateng
Ejisu
Thank you, Mr Speaker, for the opportunity to comment on this important subject matter. I would like to also commend the learned Leader for making this important Statement.
Mr Speaker, we know that 11th July, 2025, will go down in history as one of the dark days of our democratic journey. It is also the case that the event will also constitute a take away from our democratic credentials. Anybody observing from an impartial stance or from international observation will come to an irresistible conclusion that what happened is a minus in our democratic practice. Mr Speaker, more worrying is when we would see fellow human beings reviewing the lives of their fellow human beings to a conclusion that they deserve an affliction that has occasioned them.
Mr Speaker, I was surprised to have seen my Senior, the Member of Parliament for Pusiga, a female, who boldly reviewed the life of a fellow woman and came to a conclusion that she deserved the affliction that has come upon her. Mr Speaker, I think that when men want to fight, they fight their colleague men. Mr Speaker, you do not find men who fly in the air with all their strength in their bodies only to attack a woman. Mr Speaker, it is also shameful when you would find leading Members of Government —
Mr Speaker, it is obvious, and we can state so emphatically, without any ambiguity, that the mayhem that we witnessed in Ablekuma North is one that is likely to be state sponsored. Mr Speaker, I say so because after the event — Mr Speaker, respectfully, the point that I am making is that I have no doubt in my mind that Government is complicit in the activities that occurred, the mayhem that occurred. Mr Speaker, I am happy to know from the Leader of the House that the conduct of the elections—
Mr Speaker, respectfully, my utter disappointment is in the fact that leading members of our Government, after the event which we are all lamenting about, went public and endorsed an attack as if a section of our populace deserved that mayhem visited on them. Mr Speaker, in this House, all that I have heard is a recount of, so to speak, an attribution of a crime to Hawa Koomson, the former Hon Member of Parliament. Mr Speaker, our laws are very clear that if somebody commits even the highest crime of the land, there is a due process to put that person through and not to hire people to fly in the air to head-butt the chest of a woman to the floor. Mr Speaker, I think that is very inhuman, to say the least. Mr Speaker, as we know the law to be, crime does not die. So, if the former Hon Member has committed anything that we deem to be a crime, the proper recourse is in putting her before the law even as we speak and we have a Government in place.
Mr Speaker, I do not think that we have done well by assaulting her in the manner that we did and same being applauded by members of the Government is very appalling. Mr Speaker, I am also disappointed by the fact that elements within the party and appointees of Government, who in the first place, prevented the Electoral Commission from collating just three polling stations—They prevented the Electoral Commissioner from doing that.
Mr Speaker, how did they do that? Any time the Electoral Commissioner was ready to do her work, we found appointees that went on social media and publicly called thugs to march to the office of the Electoral Commission and, in no time, these people armed to the teeth were sitting on motorbikes and ready to visit mayhem on the EC and the officers there. Mr Speaker, what will happen? Obviously, the officers of the EC will run through the windows to save their single dear life. And that is how the Electoral Commission had to do the u-turn that they did. I know they are not proud of the decision they took. They are not proud because they had to take it out of force and enormous pressure being brought to bear on them by the Government.
Mr Speaker, if you have prevented them from carrying out the lawful orders of a high court and we are to go for a rerun, and we find those same appointees and elements within the Government also publicly marching thugs to disrupt the re-run of the elections. And Government says nothing about it, and nobody has lost their job even as we speak. Then, Mr Speaker, what it means is that the EC cannot collate three polling stations and the EC cannot also do a proper re-run because people will march thugs to go and disturb the process.
Mr Speaker, this is a difficulty that we should all be very worried about. Mr Speaker, we also witnessed that, well, maybe, deliberately or inadvertently, the police that were sent there to man the elections had no weapons; they had no guns. They were not armed. Can it be for a reason, so that the thugs, when they march in and armed to the teeth, will be able to overpower the police? Mr Speaker, that was what we saw on our television and for some of us who went there, that was what we saw. We saw the police helpless; we saw that the police could not do anything because they had no weapons. Mr Speaker, we know that the mere sight of a gun handled by a police officer can dispel people with criminal mentality—
Mr Speaker, I think that we have not done very well for ourselves and across the political divide, we should come to a certain consensus. We should come to a certain consensus to enforce the laws that this House has passed by way of a statute. Mr Speaker, this is a call for all of us, not a partisan one. It is a call for all of us to do so.
Mr Speaker, with these words, I thank you for the opportunity.
Hon Nana Agyei Baffour Awuah
Manhyia South
Mr Speaker, all we have heard this evening is that it happened in Atiwa, so it is all right if it happens in Ablekuma North. It happened in Chereponi, so it is all right to happen in Ablekuma North. Mr Speaker, it happened in Ayawaso, so it is all right to happen in Ablekuma North.
Let us all look into our faces; today, by the grace of technology, everybody is watching us. Are we, as leaders of this country, saying that we are ready to practise retributive politics? Is that what we are saying? Are we saying to the many children who are watching us that when we promised the people of this country a reset, we were going to pursue retributive politics? This is not what they promised. Is this what they promised? Perhaps, the people of this country should have been guided. They should have been guided by the fact that they have stated that, for them, revolution is in their blood, so they were going to offer revolution; it is in their DNA. That is what they are going to offer.
M
r Speaker, I have a few questions. When the police went to Ablekuma North without arms, what informed it? When we all agreed to pass the Vigilantism and Related Offences Act, 2019, was it a decoy? Was it a decoy to surprise us in the 2024 elections and subsequent elections? Mr Speaker, that is what it seems now. That when they got us to pass the Vigilantism and Related Offences Act, 2019, it was just to surprise us. That is what it seems. They did not approach it with candour, with the same degree of sincerity with which we approached the passage of the Vigilantism and Related Offences Act, 2019.
Mr Speaker, we need to bring this to an end. We cannot continue along this path. One day might be a bad day. This thing has gone on for so long. I was in Ablekuma North. I have lived through this in Kumasi, when we were always terrorised and intimidated from the days of Nana Kwesi Agyemang, who mobilised macho men to snatch ballot boxes using the 64th Infantry Battalions, the commandos. We remember all those; we have not forgotten. Mr Speaker, where are we going? The Committees for the Defence of the Revolution (CDR) have come a very long way, so we should agree to end this. The approach requested by the Minority Leader is the way to go.
Mr Speaker, having passed the Vigilantism and Related Offences Act, 2019, if we do not do anything in the face of it, that law will fall into dissimilitude; that law will become useless. Mr Speaker, this is coming right at the back of the Vigilantism and Related Offences Act, 2019. We should, in the circumstance, have an enquiry to determine why this happened and to punish the perpetrators, so that it serves as a proper deterrent. Otherwise, going forward, we are going to have a problem.
Mr Speaker, today, we have been told that what happened in Ablekuma North is child’s play and this is coming from the Majority Leader. A journalist was slapped and we say it is child’s play? A woman was assaulted and we say it is child’s play? Mr Speaker, we are not surprised. Clearly, from the account of the Majority Leader, there is a certain orientation towards electoral violence, so anything is child’s play.
Mr Speaker, the children and mothers of this country are calling for an end to this. If this continues, one day, we may wear black in this country and that will not be child’s play. Enough is enough.
Thank you very much.
Hon Millicent Yeboah Amankwah
Sunyani West
Thank you, Mr Speaker, for the opportunity given me.
Mr Speaker, I am very happy to be here as the youngest Member of Parliament and to meet this Statement made by the Minority Leader. Ghana is the beacon of democracy and— Thank you, Mr Speaker.
Mr Speaker, indeed, I am the youngest, but then Thank you, Mr Speaker. As I said earlier, Ghana is a beacon of democracy and during elections, electoral violence should be condemned. No matter the Government, either NPP or NDC. But then what is very important is that we as leaders, our comments before, during, and after elections are important and so we need to be extra vigilant in making comments before, during, and after elections. Mr Speaker, on this Statement on Ablekuma West Ablekuma North —
Mr Speaker, it is one thing we should condemn because of the violence that it came up with. But notwithstanding, we will commend the security forces that came quickly to the aid of the former Member of Parliament. But this is a call to us as Members of Parliament, since we are discussing it here, that the Vigilantism and Related Offences Act, 2019 (Act 999) that we passed, we should check and amend it. We should tighten up any loopholes in it. Because I believe that if it had been done well, we would not be here discussing this matter.
Mr Speaker, again, one thing we should also be aware of, is what our Member of Parliament earlier said, that H.E. John Dramani Mahama is so concerned about these past occurrences that when this happened, he quickly came out with a Statement. And today, we also have a female Vice President who is equally concerned and has condemned the violence during this process. I believe that with what they have exhibited, this Ablekuma North issue that happened and the previous ones will be investigated and justice will prevail.
Mr Speaker, before I end, I would say that Members of Parliament should be extra careful with their comments because those are what generate the grassroots to get themselves involved. But we should not forget that after those comments, we would go to our houses and get somebody’s innocent children into this mess and at the end, some will be arrested, some will be at the hospital, and some would even, out of that, die. What do we do as Members of Parliament? And I am very happy that today, the youth, which I am also a part of, are learning from this. Today, because it is the former Member of Parliament, a Statement is being read on the floor of Parliament; what about the innocent ones? Because they do not have titles or are not known outside there—
Mr Speaker, please, I would urge Members of Parliament, when we go out for elections, we should be careful what we tell our grassroots and people who follow us, not to get themselves involved. And this is a big message to our constituents. No leader, and I repeat, no leader should encourage them to get themselves involved because at the end, they would find themselves wanting, and those persons would be somewhere else. I would thank the maker of this Statement, and before I end, it is not only elections. Some comments—
Today we are talking about female matters, any comment that would rise—Harassment and intimidation all piled up and got to this point. But let us not forget that Ghana is a hallmark when we talk about peace and better democracy.
Mr Speaker, thank you for the opportunity given to me.
Hon Ayariga Mahama
Bawku Central
Yesterday, when the Minority Leader approached me, that he was going to make a Statement about Ablekuma North and the violence that took place there, I indeed encouraged him and expressed my support and said he should come and make the Statement. I assured him that I would join him to condemn the violence; I gave him that assurance and I intend to keep my word and join him and I believe many wellmeaning citizens, including the sitting Vice President of the Republic, have all condemned the violence.
Mr Speaker, the violence is condemned by this Side of the House. We condemn it. Nobody wants violence. Nobody should encourage violence. Indeed, for those of us whose vocation depends on elections and having it peaceful, we should be the first to condemn violence in any election, no matter the circumstance. So, Mr Speaker, I join the Minority Leader to condemn the violence.
Mr Speaker, again, every crime is a crime. Whether the crime took place during an election, after an election, or in any circumstance, a crime is a crime. When there is evidence of criminality, I have always advocated that the state agencies take decisive steps to deal with it. When Donald Trump lost the elections and his supporters marched to the Capitol, they pursued them one after the other, prosecuted them, imprisoned some, just to send a signal that that kind of behaviour is not acceptable in a democracy.
So, Mr Speaker, it is the duty of the law enforcement agencies, if they have evidence of crimes, to pursue it. I support any call for investigation by the law enforcement agencies. People say probe. What is a probe? There were police officers. It happened within their jurisdiction. It is just 19 polling stations. Why can they not investigate what happened and where there is any criminality, they deal with it as a simple crime? When we elevate it to a commission of enquiry, then parties mobilise behind their various supporters and we all begin to defend the indefensible. I do not think this is a matter for commission of enquiry. It is a simple thing. The police were there. Somebody said, they were there, but they were not holding weapons. It is not even commendable for policemen at polling stations to be holding weapons. Normally in elections, the army or those holding weapons are at specific locations, vantage points. But the policemen at polling stations do not hold weapons. There were cameras. We know what happened.
Indeed, the incident that we are all discussing is captured. There is a video of it. We all saw what happened. If we are calling for investigation, let them investigate. If we are calling for prosecution as a House, let us do so. That is my position on the matter. I am pleading with you. But again, I said something earlier, and the Minority Chief Whip tried to create the impression that I spoke ill of the police or security agencies by saying that they were put to sleep. Please, as a political party, be decisive. If they are running an election, run it. If they are not, they should not run.
Mr Speaker, I have read social media reports of the NPP as a political party taking on their candidate and I have seen the candidate also apologising for defying her party and participating in the election rerun. Mr Speaker, as I said earlier, the police need to estimate the level of violence or potential of violence of a particular activity in order to determine what level of mobilisation, deployment, how much resources to invest in monitoring a political exercise. When they are given the wrong signals and they do not prepare well, we will have such situations. So, as I call on the police to up their game, I also feel—
Honestly, having experienced their involvement in managing very difficult situations, I have confidence in them, they and the military, that they can withstand any situation. They can handle any electoral situation in this country, but we need to give them the right signals so that they also prepare properly. So, I am not ready to really condemn them for whatever has happened, because I think that we misled them in terms of their level of preparation. Not that they did not have the capacity, but we misled them and I am being very frank about this.
So, I thank the Minority Leader for the Statement and even more, I thank him because when we went into Conclave, we raised issues about certain parts of his Statement, and he graciously deleted all those and presented a Statement without the areas that we on this Side felt uncomfortable about and I think that the Statement was well delivered. Comments were made; a few emotions raised. But I think that that is how this House functions. After this, we will continue to be friends.
Thank you very much, Mr Speaker.
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