The Coalition of Domestic Election Observers (CODEO) issued a statement Tuesday that strongly condemned the violence and vote-buying that marred the parliamentary re-run elections held in Ghana’s Ablekuma North constituency.

The group criticized what they described as “acts of political thuggery, intimidation, and inducement of voters,” calling these developments a threat to Ghana’s democratic integrity.

The Ablekuma North constituency, located in Accra, the capital of Ghana, has 218 polling stations within the constituency. During the 2024 general elections held in December, the Electoral Commission (EC) could not declare the winner of its parliamentary seat owing to irregularities, including the loss of original pink sheets, among other things, which marred the credibility of the results of 19 polling stations within the constituency.

The contest was between the two most dominant political parties, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) whose candidate was Nana Akua Owusu Afiriyie and the National Democratic Congress (NDC), whose candidate was Ewurabena Aubynn. The coalition of the unaffected polling station saw the NPP candidate in a narrow lead with a difference of 48 votes. Thus, the EC did not declare a winner as a result of the apparent rigging that had occurred and the constituency has since December 7, 2024, when the elections took place, been without a Parliamentary candidate.

Following a petition to the High Court, the EC was ordered on January 4, 2025, to go ahead with the coalition and declare the winner. The EC decided to do a re-run for the 19 polling stations whose results were affected by rigging and violence. This decision was strongly contested by the NPP as they claimed to have won the seat but the decision of the EC prevailed. The re-run elections took place on July 11 across the said 19 polling stations.

At Odorkor Methodist 1, one of the selected 19 polling stations, Hawa Koomson, NPP candidate and former MP for Awutu Senya Constituency in the central region of Ghana, was assaulted by a group of thugs, whose identities are unknown. However, videos of the incident revealed her spraying something, possibly a pepper spray, into the eyes of individuals who rushed towards her. This goes to solidify the notion that she had anticipated such an incident occurring.

At St. Peter’s polling station, Nana Akua Owusu Afiriyie, NPP candidate and former MP for Ablekuma North, was also assaulted by a number of thugs. Dennis Miracle Aboagye, also of the NPP, narrowly escaped an attack. The police managed to restore calm after the surprise attack. The NPP accordingly accused the thugs of acting on the instructions of the NDC, the incumbent political party.

However, there was a swift turn of events when the EC declared that the Ablekuma North seat, which had not been held by an NDC candidate under the current Constitution, recorded the first victory for the NDC candidate. Ewurabena Aubyn won by 209 votes and increased the parliamentary seats of the NDC from 183 to 184. This has given the NDC a two-thirds majority in Parliament, the first ever recorded in the country.

CODEO’s condemnation underscores the growing concerns over the erosion of electoral norms in Ghana. While Article 42 of the 1992 Constitution mandates the adoption of universal adult suffrage in general elections, incidents of rigging and political violence continues to threaten the legitimacy of the outcome of the democratic process.

The incident on July 11 serves as a critical reminder of the need for institutional reforms, effective policing and a renewed commitment to peaceful and credible elections. This would essentially synchronize with the increasing demand for accountability from the Ghanaian citizenry which has in recent years defied the customary outcomes of its electoral process, counting down from a split Parliament in 2020 to a straight two-thirds majority for the incumbent political party, the first of its kind.

At this point in Ghana’s constitutional history, violence in elections would be fatal to the realization of the country’s dream and ought to end immediately.