Electoral violence: ‘It's wrong to compare Ayawaso West Wougon to Ablekuma North’ — Edem Agbana

The Member of Parliament for Ketu North, Eric Edem Agbana, says it is wrong to compare the violence during the Ablekuma North rerun to the 2019 Ayawaso West Wuogon by-election.

According to the National Democratic Congress (NDC) lawmaker, the two incidents are isolated and fundamentally different.

Speaking on Accra-based TV3’s New Day show on Monday, July 14, Mr Agbana said the Ayawaso violence was “state-sponsored,” unlike the Ablekuma North case.

“Violence is wrong. Violence in any form must be condemned. But there is a very fundamental difference between the Ablekuma North election rerun and what happened at Ayawaso West Wuogon,” he stated.

“The Ablekuma North violence was a clash between two political parties, but Ayawaso West Wuogon was state-sponsored vigilantism. That must not be lost on us. I have a problem with those equating the by-election violence to what happened at Ablekuma North.”

He added: “The difference is that one was sponsored by the state. The men who perpetrated that violence and the near killing of innocent Ghanaians were clad in national security uniforms.”

The Ablekuma North rerun, conducted in 19 polling stations on Friday, July 11, was marred by violent scenes as thugs stormed voting centres, attacking several people, including journalists.

The exercise, which saw the NDC’s Ewurabena Aubynn emerge victorious, was held in areas where results from the 2024 elections were not certified by Electoral Commission officials due to earlier violence.