Ewurabena Aubyn waving at supporters
The parliamentary candidate for the National Democratic Congress (NDC) for Ablekuma North, Ewurabena Aubyn has won the parliamentary election re-run, beating her contender from the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Nana Akua Owusu Afriyie with 209 votes.
According to the Electoral Commission (EC), after the entire exercise, Ewurabena Aubyn garnered 34,090 while Nana Akua Owusu Afriyie polled 33,881 votes, with 411 rejected ballots.
According to the EC, before the re-run in the 19 polling stations to resolve the disputes that characterised the parliamentary election on December 7, 2024, the NPP’s parliamentary candidate was leading with 48 votes, having secured 32,512 votes from 262 out of the 281 polling stations, while Ewurabena Aubyn on the other hand obtained 32,464 votes.
Pockets of Violence
Although the election was largely peaceful, it was however marred with pockets of violence and disturbances in some polling stations, resulting in the EC temporarily suspending voting in some polling stations.
Former Minister of Fisheries and Aquaculture Development and former Member of Parliament for Awutu Senya East, Mavis Hawa Koomson, was physically assaulted by a group of people following the chaos at the St. Peters Methodist Church polling station.
Reports indicate that Hawa Koomson was physically assaulted when she refused to adhere to police instructions asking her to leave after observing the election process, having visited the same polling station earlier in the morning.
It is alleged that some people outside the church where voting was ongoing attacked and physically assaulted her team, including her security guards, resulting in some altercations at the centre.
Reports disclosed that the former MP upon realising the attack on her bodyguards, sprayed a substance alleged to be pepper spray in the air, resulting in a further physical attack on her by some individuals at the polling centre.
The former MP and her guards were whisked away by the swift intervention of the police officers stationed at the centre.
Also, the Deputy National Organiser of the New Patriotic Party, Chris Lloyd Nii Kwei Asamoah, was brutally assaulted at the St. Peter’s Polling Station at Odorkor.
Hawa Koomson being assisted after the assault
Some NPP officials were spotted by DAILY GUIDE after the chaotic scenes of violence trying to help restore calm. They include the NPP parliamentary candidate for the area, Nana Akua Owusu Afriyie; former Agric Minister, Dr. Bryan Acheampong; and former CEO of the National Lottery Authority, Sammi Awuku.
A video circulating on social media shows some unidentified men alleged to be members of the NDC beating the NPP Deputy National Organiser when he tried leaving the chaotic area.
Apart from that, a journalist with GHOne TV was also reported to have been attacked by a police inspector at one of the polling stations.
Another reporter with JoyNews was also reported to have been physically assaulted by another thug unprovoked while performing her duty at one of the polling stations.
The Ghana Police Service, in response, has announced that the officer who assaulted the GHOne reporter has been interdicted and the matter referred to the Police Professional Standards Bureau for further investigations.
The police also assured the public of conducting further enquiry into the issue, although it has not officially commented on other assaults recorded in some of the polling stations during the Ablekuma North parliamentary election re-run.
Attacks Condemned
The flagbearer of the opposition New Patriotic Party, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, has condemned attacks on individuals in the Ablekuma North Constituency election re-run and called on President Mahama to deal with the perpetrators accordingly.
Dr. Bawumia, in an interview with the media, said the actions portrayed by some individuals to resort to violence and physically assault people during elections is a recipe for disaster.
He said, “This will be a recipe for disaster if each political party will raise its own army. I call on the President to take action to bring the perpetrators to book.”
He appealed to President Mahama not to gloss over such issues and deal with individuals who may be identified to have resorted to violence and disrupted the election in some of the polling stations.
“We will not forget what has happened. This is not the democracy we want to see,” he added.
The National Peace Council (NPC) has also condemned the pockets of violence during the Ablekuma North parliamentary election re-run and said such incidents violate the rights of individuals and threaten the peace and stability of the nation.
It also welcomed the interdiction of the police officer involved in the assault of the journalist, and further called on the leadership of both the NDC and NPP to take collective action against political violence.
“We also call for swift investigation by the police to ensure that the perpetrators are brought to book,” it stated.
Bawumia’s Visit
Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, yesterday visited Madam Hawa Koomson and assured that he will ensure the thugs who attacked her during the Ablekuma North re-run are brought to justice.
Although most people have pointed accusing fingers at the NDC for allegedly orchestrating the attacks, Deputy General Secretary of the party, Mustapha Gbande, has vehemently denied inciting violence at Ablekuma North and, therefore, described the allegations as false and baseless.
Speaking on JoyNews, Mr. Gbande said he was surprised to hear such allegations as his vehicle was used to convey Hawa Koomson to the hospital, and he followed up on her at the Kaneshie Police Station.
He, therefore, described those allegations especially by some politicians as misrepresentation of issues during the re-run at Ablekuma North and should be disregarded.
By Ebenezer K. Amponsah