Renowned security analyst, Professor Kwesi Aning, has described the violence that marred the Ablekuma North parliamentary rerun as “unfortunate but unsurprising,” pointing to Ghana’s repeated failure to act decisively on electoral violence.
The Ablekuma North rerun descended into chaos after unidentified armed men disrupted voting at some polling centres, assaulting party agents, journalists, and even a former minister. The incident triggered widespread condemnation from political leaders and civil society, prompting calls for accountability and reform.
Speaking in an interview on Citi Eyewitness News on Monday, July 14, Prof Aning lamented the country’s entrenched pattern of responding to such incidents with symbolic gestures rather than concrete reforms.
“It was unfortunate, but I am not surprised because we establish commissions of enquiry, a report is written, the government issues a white paper… This has become a game of cyclical patterns of violence — talk, talk, drink tea, and then it is business as usual,” he stated.
Despite the outrage, Prof Aning expressed skepticism about whether the government’s latest promises would lead to real change.
“It was most unfortunate, but I wasn’t surprised at all, and I am really looking forward to what will happen in this particular case with all the strong statements coming from government ministers,” he said.
Read also
Ablekuma North chaos a wake-up call for Akwatia by-election – Muntaka