National Coordinator of the District Road Improvement Programme (DRIP) and former Member of Parliament for Odododiodioo, Nii Lante Vanderpuye, has dismissed claims that the recent violence during the Ablekuma North parliamentary rerun was politically motivated. Instead, he described the incident as an act of personal vendetta rooted in longstanding grievances.
Speaking on Channel One TV’s Breakfast Daily on Thursday, July 17, Vanderpuye said the violent scenes at the St. Peter’s polling station were isolated and lacked the wider patterns often associated with political violence.
“I will not condone political violence. What happened in Ablekuma North, I want us to examine it critically as an incident of vendetta rather than political violence. Apart from that incident, there was no similar occurrence at any other polling station,” Vanderpuye explained.
He linked the incident to past actions by former Awutu Senya East MP, Mavis Hawa Koomson, whom he accused of repeatedly targeting certain groups in her constituency with violence—actions that, according to him, led to deaths and lasting injuries.
“Hawa Koomson consistently visited violence on certain groups of people in the constituency, which led to death, destruction of lives, with some people being incapacitated up till today. If the government she served in had taken measures to punish her and make people feel justice had been served, this wouldn’t have happened,” he stated.
Vanderpuye argued that the failure to address these past incidents of violence has fostered a sense of injustice and bitterness among victims, leading to acts of retaliation.
The chaos in Ablekuma North broke out on Friday, July 11, during the rerun of the parliamentary election when a group of unidentified macho men stormed the St. Peter’s polling station, disrupting the voting process and causing widespread panic.
Channel One News reporter Jude Duncan observed that a female polling agent was severely assaulted, suffering visible facial injuries.
Former Minister Mavis Hawa Koomson was also attacked during the incident, further intensifying public concern over the safety of electoral stakeholders.
Calm was eventually restored after additional security forces were deployed to the area.
