Frank Annoh-Dompreh
The Minority in Parliament has called on the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Christian Tetteh Yohuno, to immediately deploy security personnel to facilitate the Electoral Commission’s (EC) collation and declaration of the Ablekuma North parliamentary election results – almost six months after the 2024 general election.
The appeal was made in a formal petition submitted to the Ghana Police Service after a peaceful protest walk from Parliament to the Police Headquarters in Accra yesterday.
The walk was led by the Minority Leader, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, with the petition read by Minority Chief Whip, Frank Annoh-Dompreh. It was received on behalf of the IGP by COP Daniel Kwame Afriyie, Director-General of Police Special Operations (PSO).
The Minority described the failure to declare the Ablekuma North parliamentary results as a blatant denial of the people’s constitutional right to representation, and a disturbing affront to Ghana’s democratic values.
“This is without precedent in the Fourth Republic and constitutes a serious blot on our democratic record,” the petition stated.
“The absence of a declared Member of Parliament for Ablekuma North nearly six months after the elections violates the people’s rights under the 1992 Constitution,” the Minority said.
The petition details how the EC’s attempts to conduct the collation of results were repeatedly disrupted by acts of intimidation, reportedly involving party supporters and unidentified individuals in military attire.
The Minority noted that the situation escalated in January 2025, when a disputed declaration was made under duress, prompting the High Court to intervene.
In a ruling dated January 4, 2025, the High Court ordered the Electoral Commission to complete the collation process and directed the Ghana Police Service to provide security support.
However, the Minority said that a subsequent request for police protection ahead of a scheduled collation on January 17, 2025 was ignored.
“On the morning of the scheduled exercise, the Ghana Police Service declined to provide the needed security, citing intelligence concerns,” the petition said.
“This led to the invasion of the collation centre by party operatives and unknown individuals in military uniform, forcing the EC to suspend the process once again,” it added.
According to the Minority, despite expressing its continued readiness to resume the collation of the results, the EC has since struggled to receive security cooperation from the police.
The Minority emphasised that a high-level meeting involving the IGP, the EC, and the Election Security Task Force reaffirmed the need to complete the process, yet no tangible action has been taken.
Calling the situation a constitutional crisis, the Minority stressed that the prolonged delay undermines trust in Ghana’s democratic institutions, particularly the Electoral Commission and the Ghana Police Service.
In the petition, the Minority demanded the immediate deployment of adequate security personnel to the EC’s designated collation centre in Ablekuma North; provision of a secure and peaceful environment for the collation and lawful declaration of results; and full compliance with the High Court’s directive and active cooperation with the EC to bring the matter to a close.
“Democracy delayed is democracy denied,” the petition concluded, pointing, “The Ghana Police Service must not be perceived as the institution standing in the way of democracy.”
COP Daniel Afriyie, who received the petition on behalf of IGP Christian Tetteh Yohuno, assured the Minority leadership that the concerns would be relayed for prompt attention.
The Ablekuma North seat remains the only outstanding parliamentary result from the 2024 general election.
By Ernest Kofi Adu, Parliament House