The Member of Parliament for Assin South, Rev. John Ntim Fordjour, has strongly condemned the violent incident that occurred at the St. Peter’s Society polling station during the parliamentary rerun in the Ablekuma North constituency on Friday, July 11.
The chaos erupted when a group of unidentified macho men stormed the polling centre, attacking voters and election officials and forcing a temporary halt to voting. Among those assaulted were the New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) parliamentary candidate, Nana Akua Afriyie, and former Fisheries Minister, Mavis Hawa Koomson.
Citi News journalist Jude Duncan confirmed that both women sustained physical injuries during the assault, prompting the reinforcement of security at the polling station. Voting later resumed under tighter police protection.
Speaking to the media following the incident, Rev. Ntim Fordjour expressed deep concern over the turn of events and called for calm.
“Ghana is all that we have; it is important that we make it peaceful. Democracy must be an expression of opinions through voting to determine your decision. It shouldn’t degenerate into the kind of violence we have seen today [July 11].
He continued, “We must condemn it in every word that we can find to condemn. Democracy is all we have; let us continue to make voting day a very peaceful day, everyone will look up to. It should be full of violence, rancorous, tribulations, and reprisals.
“It is going to destroy the gains we have made in our democracy. It’s not good for the reputation Ghana has. We need to move beyond violence.”
Rev. Fordjour also addressed the decision by Defence Minister Dr. Edward Omane Boamah not to deploy military personnel to the polling stations, stating that such matters would be reviewed and discussed in due course.
In the meantime, he encouraged NPP supporters to participate peacefully in the voting process.
“Voting must proceed; we must encourage our people to vote. We’re encouraging everyone to go out peacefully to vote. We will have a considered opinion when everything is done [referring to Dr Omane’s stance]. Peace is what we need in this country; violence is not what we need,” He advised.
Ablekuma North: Hawa Koomson, Akua Afriyie assaulted by unknown Macho men [Video]
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