Alexander Afenyo-Markin
Effutu Member of Parliament (MP) and Deputy Majority Leader, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, has vehemently denied any involvement in electoral violence in his constituency.
Speaking at a press conference, Mr Afenyo-Markin addressed accusations made by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) that he masterminded violence during the recent district-level elections in Effutu.
The NDC Chairman, Johnson Asiedu Nketiah, at a press conference in Accra on Monday, said “in a dress rehearsal to perpetuate violence in the December 7 general elections, agents of the governing New Patriotic Party terrorised electorate at some polling stations including one in Mr Afenyo-Markin’s Constituency.”
However, the Efutu MP dismissed these claims, stating that it is actually members of the NDC who have been engaging in violent acts, causing fear among members of the New Patriotic Party (NPP).
He emphasized that his politics is focused on development and he does not condone violence, attacks, or insults.
The MP expressed his commitment to open discourse and the exchange of ideas, which he believes has contributed to his previous electoral successes.
He stressed that he will not allow Asiedu Nketiah, the National Chairman of the NDC, and other party activists to tarnish his reputation and label him as someone engaged in electoral violence.
Afenyo-Markin asserted that he has always won his elections fairly and cleanly.
On the contrary, he said it was the NDC activists in the area who intended to mar the assembly elections but for the intervention of the police.
He recounted how he has been at the receiving end of the NDC’s “violent politicking” in previous elections to which records abound at the Winneba police to bear him out.
Mr Afenyo-Markin said his rise in politics was meritorious having served as an assembly man for two terms, a presiding member before becoming an MP in 2013.
“If it has to do with violence, we are rather afraid for our lives. We in the NPP are afraid for our lives, and I want to tell Asiedu Nketiah and his party folks that I do my politics on the strength of development. I don’t do politics of violence, I don’t attack anybody, and I don’t insult.
“I believe in an open discourse of ideas and that has been the reason why I have remained the MP and so I will not allow Asiedu Nketiah and other NDC activists who have lost the political plot and do not know how to manage my successes in Effutu to brand me. I am not into electoral violence and I do not believe in it and I have always won and won cleanly.”
He suspects that the unsubstantiated claim by the NDC is a deliberate attempt to prepare the grounds for electoral violence in the December polls, a plot he said would be foiled.
Effutu constituents will now await further investigations into the allegations made by the NDC and the MP’s denial of involvement. Political observers will closely monitor the situation, as allegations of electoral violence are serious and can impact the trust the public has in their elected officials.
By Vincent Kubi