The Ghana Center for Democratic Development (CDD-Ghana) has strongly condemned the violence and electoral irregularities that marred the Ablekuma North parliamentary rerun held on Friday, July 11, 2025.
Speaking on Morning Starr with Joshua Kodjo Mensah on Monday, July 14, Paul Nana Kwabena Aborampah Mensah, Programme Manager for Security Sector Governance at CDD-Ghana, expressed disappointment over the chaotic scenes, though he noted he was not entirely surprised by the development.
“I was upset but not surprised,” he said. “I said this that the way the 2024 elections security handled I was not happy and if we adopt the same structures we are going to see worse.”
Mr. Aborampah Mensah criticised the Ghana Police Service’s post-incident strategy, describing it as reactive rather than preventive.
“When you saw the 2024 elections and from Dr. Dampare he adopted a strategy of arrest after the act. So most of the things that were happened he rounded up the people most of them in the nights when they were asleep,” he said.
He also questioned the effectiveness of legal recourse in electoral disputes.
He further criticised the Electoral Commission (EC) for disregarding a court order regarding the Ablekuma North election rerun.
“The behavior of the electoral commission in this by-election also tells us that court is useless. Because court gave an order for them to go and collate their three results but they have gone ahead and to do otherwise,” he said.
According to Mr. Mensah, Ghana’s current legal framework is failing to address electoral violence adequately.
after the promulgation of act 999 that’s the vigilance regulation of persons act in 2019 no electoral violence case has been charged using the act 999. Prosecutors who go back to the criminal court which are very lenient punitive measures. So nothing tells us that as a country we are prepared to deal with the electoral violence.”
The Ablekuma North rerun was necessitated by verification and collation challenges during the December 2024 general elections.
The EC ordered a new vote in 19 of the 37 disputed polling stations. Although the New Patriotic Party (NPP) initially opposed the rerun, the party eventually participated after its court injunction was dismissed.
The National Democratic Congress (NDC) candidate, Ewurabena Aubynn, was officially declared the winner by the EC, marking the NDC’s first-ever parliamentary victory in the constituency.
However, the rerun was marred by violent incidents, including one at the Odorkor Methodist Church polling station, where Minister Hawa Koomson allegedly discharged pepper spray during a confrontation, halting voting temporarily.
Another confrontation occurred at the St. Peter’s polling station, where suspected political thugs stormed the premises, attacking party agents and journalists.
NPP parliamentary candidate Nana Akua Afriyie and a female polling agent reportedly sustained facial injuries, while Koomson was also allegedly assaulted.
CDD-Ghana has called for urgent institutional reforms, stronger law enforcement, and genuine political will to prevent further erosion of public trust in Ghana’s democratic process.
Source: Ghana/Starrfm.com.gh/Hamdia Mohammed
