8 Months in Bulletproof Vest, Mahama’s role, 3 Assassination Attempts

GhanaWeb reported on Thursday, October 29, 2026, that the Member of Parliament for Awutu Senya East, Phillis Naa Koryoo Okunor, has recounted the extreme physical dangers and profound personal sacrifices she endured on her journey to Parliament, including surviving three alleged assassination attempts and wearing a bulletproof vest for eight months while breastfeeding. You know, it is one thing for political candidates to routinely navigate the standard administrative hurdles and competitive pressures of democratic campaigns, but it is an entirely different, deeply consequential reality when a female politician is forced to armor herself against lethal threats and survive targeted intimidation, thereby exposing the severe, often hidden vulnerabilities within the nation’s political ecosystem and the extraordinary resilience required to shatter the glass ceiling in such a hostile environment.

The Electoral Commission of Ghana, the Ghana Police Service, the Parliamentary Service, the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Protection, and the broader national frameworks for political violence prevention, women’s political empowerment, and public safety are institutionally mandated to foster the absolute physical security of all candidates, ensure the rigorous enforcement of electoral laws, and guarantee that the mechanisms of democratic participation remain strictly focused on peaceful, issue-based competition rather than being compromised by criminal intimidation or systemic gender-based violence. When prominent elected officials publicly detail such harrowing experiences of targeted persecution, it directly reinforces the core principles of institutional accountability, human rights protection, and the foundational need to ensure that the mechanisms of state security are never compromised by the normalization of political thuggery or the weaponization of administrative processes against vulnerable candidates.

Detailing the specifics of this deeply personal and harrowing political journey during the Women’s Leadership Breakfast hosted by Olori Ivie Atuwatse III, Queen Consort of the Warri Kingdom in Nigeria, as part of the Elevate Africa gathering in Accra on October 27, 2026, MP Okunor explicitly highlighted the relentless threats that marked her campaigns in both the 2020 and 2024 general elections. She stated with clear, unwavering resolve, “I was almost killed on three separate occasions. I lost but I didn’t give up. I was called names, I was called a failure, but I didn’t give up.” Emphasizing the severe physical and emotional toll of this constant danger, she revealed that she wore a protective bulletproof vest for eight months while breastfeeding her infant, noting, “Wearing a bulletproof vest for eight months wasn’t easy. When you finish, your back is aching. It is not easy, so my sister, try again and push.” Furthermore, she recounted a bizarre and targeted administrative obstruction ahead of the 2024 elections, where she was mysteriously arrested over a licensed firearm in her vehicle due to a clerical error. She explained, “My identity card had my name, Naa Koryoo but when it came to the renewal of my licensed gun, the police officer who renewed it omitted one ‘o’. So, apparently, there were two different personalities and I was arrested.” She claimed that this detention attracted massive national attention and prompted direct intervention from then-opposition leader John Dramani Mahama, asserting, “The whole of Ghana came to a standstill. The President of the Republic of Ghana had to cancel an important meeting to hold a press conference before I was released.” Reflecting on the ultimate cost of this political violence, she soberly noted the tragic outcomes of a 2024 gunpoint attack, stating, “In 2024, I went, I contested and again, I was almost killed at gunpoint. Unfortunately, I lost one person and I have people whose legs and hands are amputated but Naa Koryoo is still sitting here alive,” using her survival as a powerful testament to encourage other women not to abandon their leadership dreams in the face of adversity.

You know, when such profoundly courageous, deeply personal testimonies are mounted by female political leaders to expose and eradicate the normalization of targeted political violence and administrative sabotage, it highlights the critical importance of ensuring that our electoral and security regulatory bodies actively enforce strict, modern frameworks around candidate protection and gender-inclusive political participation, so that the national democratic landscape remains a vibrant engine of equitable representation rather than a stagnant arena restricted by fear, intimidation, and systemic barriers, doesn’t it? As the nation digests this urgent call for political safety and stakeholders reflect on the pressing need to audit and strengthen the protective protocols within our electoral ecosystems, the public continues to monitor the situation, recognizing that robust security frameworks and cooperative dialogue between the police, electoral authorities, women’s advocacy groups, and the citizenry are vital pillars for ensuring fairness, democratic integrity, and order in Ghana’s developmental and political landscape.

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