‘They started shooting at our car’ – NDC aspirant recounts Nkoranza North attack

GhanaWeb reported on Monday, October 19, 2026, that a National Democratic Congress (NDC) constituency chairman hopeful in Nkoranza North, Alhaji Mohammed Gyan, has alleged that four masked gunmen opened fire on his vehicle following a campaign engagement at Madina, raising severe concerns about the security of political aspirants ahead of the party’s internal constituency elections. You know, it is one thing for political campaigns to be characterized by robust debates, intense canvassing, and fierce but peaceful competition for leadership positions, but it is an entirely different reality when armed, masked individuals resort to live ammunition to intimidate and silence a political aspirant, transforming a democratic exercise into a life-threatening ordeal that challenges the very foundations of internal party safety.

The National Democratic Congress (NDC), the Electoral Commission (EC), the Ghana Police Service, the National Security Council, the National Commission for Civic Education (NCCE), and the broader national democratic governance, political violence prevention, and internal party electoral integrity frameworks are institutionally mandated to foster the secure and transparent conduct of political processes, ensure the absolute protection of candidates and their supporters from physical harm, and guarantee that the pursuit of political office is never compromised by criminal intimidation or the threat of gun violence. When a sitting aspirant publicly recounts a brazen, armed attack on his campaign convoy, it directly tests the core principles of political accountability, institutional security, and the foundational need to ensure that the democratic space remains a sanctuary for peaceful contestation rather than a battlefield for armed thugs.

Recounting the terrifying incident, Alhaji Mohammed Gyan explained that he and his campaign team narrowly escaped unhurt thanks to the quick reaction of his driver, who spotted the armed men blocking the road and immediately reversed the vehicle to flee. “We had just finished our campaign at Madina and we were returning. Suddenly, we saw four masked men with guns blocking the road ahead of us,” Gyan stated. He detailed the chaotic moments that followed, noting, “Immediately my driver saw them, he was alert and reversed and sped off. As we were moving, they started shooting at our car directly. It was by the grace of God that we are alive today.” Although no injuries were recorded during the incident, the aspirant described the event as an unprecedented and deeply disturbing experience in his political career. Condemning the alleged attack, he issued a passionate plea for peace within the party ranks, warning against the use of violence to influence the outcome of the upcoming polls. “Since I started following the NDC, I have never experienced such gun violence in our internal politics. This has never happened to me before,” he lamented, adding, “We need unity in the NDC. We are one family. This politics of intimidation and violence must stop. We should not use guns to scare our own people.” Despite the gravity of the allegations, further details regarding formal police complaints, ongoing investigations, or enhanced security arrangements for the scheduled Saturday constituency elections remain unclear, as independent police confirmation of the shooting was not immediately available at the time of publication.

You know, when such harrowing accounts of armed intimidation are brought to light during internal party elections, it highlights the critical importance of ensuring that our national security agencies and political party leaderships proactively deploy robust protective measures and enforce zero-tolerance policies against electoral violence, so that aspiring leaders can campaign freely without fearing for their lives, doesn’t it? As the nation digests this alarming revelation and stakeholders reflect on the urgent need to sanitize the internal electoral processes of our major political parties, the public continues to monitor the situation, recognizing that robust political violence prevention frameworks and cooperative dialogue between the NDC leadership, the Ghana Police Service, National Security, the Electoral Commission, and the citizenry are vital pillars for ensuring fairness, candidate safety, and order in Ghana’s democratic and political landscape.

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