Members of the Minority Caucus in Parliament on Wednesday staged a protest march to the Ghana Police Service Headquarters, demanding immediate action to resolve the six-month-long impasse surrounding the Ablekuma North parliamentary election results.
Despite full voter participation in the December 7, 2024 general elections, the Electoral Commission (EC) has yet to declare a winner for the highly contested constituency in the Greater Accra Region.
As a result, the constituents of Ablekuma North have remained without representation in Parliament since January 7, 2025—an unprecedented situation in Ghana’s Fourth Republic.
Both the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) candidate, Ewurabena Aubynn, and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) incumbent, Nana Akua Owusu Afriyie, have claimed victory. However, the collation process has been marred by violence, missing pink sheets, legal disputes, and a fire at the Kwashieman Cluster of Schools that destroyed critical electoral materials.
In January 2025, the EC suspended the collation process due to widespread discrepancies in over 20 polling stations. A High Court ruling on January 4 directed the EC to resume the process and instructed the Ghana Police Service to provide the necessary security. However, this directive remains unfulfilled.
In a petition delivered by Minority Chief Whip Frank Annoh-Dompreh, the Caucus accused the Ghana Police Service of neglecting its constitutional responsibility to assist the EC in concluding the collation.
The petition cited multiple instances where police failed to provide security, including on January 17, when a formal EC request for security deployment went unanswered.
“The continued failure to provide adequate security has allowed chaos and intimidation to undermine a vital democratic process,” the petition stated.
It further alleged that unidentified individuals in military-style uniforms—alongside known political operatives—have disrupted the collation process, forcing EC officials to flee for their safety.
The Minority described the deadlock as a “constitutional crisis” and “a serious blot on Ghana’s democratic credentials.”
They warned that the disenfranchisement of Ablekuma North’s electorate undermines public confidence in state institutions and erodes the legitimacy of Parliament itself.
The Minority Caucus is demanding that the Ghana Police Service:
Deploy adequate security personnel to enable the EC to safely resume and complete the collation process;
Ensure a secure and lawful environment for the declaration of results;
Comply fully with the High Court’s directive and cooperate with the EC.
Civil society groups, including the Ghana Bar Association and the Coalition of Domestic Election Observers (CODEO), have echoed calls for urgent resolution. CODEO has even suggested the possibility of a rerun if the stalemate persists.
“The Ghana Police Service must not be seen as an obstacle to democracy,” the petition concluded. “Democracy delayed is democracy denied.”
The petition was received on behalf of the Inspector General of Police by Commissioner of Police (COP) Daniel Afriyie.
As the deadlock continues, the people of Ablekuma North remain disenfranchised—raising urgent concerns about institutional accountability and the integrity of Ghana’s electoral process.
