Ablekuma North Rerun: Voting Disrupted After Hawa Koomson Allegedly Uses Pepper Spray Amid Violence

The Ablekuma North parliamentary rerun descended into chaos on Friday, July 11, after former Minister and Awutu Senya East MP, Mavis Hawa Koomson, allegedly discharged pepper spray during a heated confrontation at the Odorkor Methodist Church polling station.

Eyewitnesses say Koomson’s actions triggered panic among voters and polling agents, temporarily halting the electoral process as people scrambled to safety. Electoral Commission (EC) officials were forced to suspend voting at the center, already fraught with tension due to the high-stakes nature of the rerun.

The incident sparked outrage among some party supporters who accused the former minister of provoking violence and interfering with the process.

Elsewhere in the constituency, similar scenes of violence unfolded at St. Peter’s polling station, where a group of unidentified macho men stormed the premises in a coordinated attack. Multiple individuals, including journalists and party agents, were reportedly assaulted.

Among those injured were New Patriotic Party (NPP) parliamentary candidate Nana Akua Afriyie and a female polling agent, both of whom sustained visible facial injuries. Ironically, Hawa Koomson, who was later seen at the same polling center, was also reportedly assaulted during the melee.

EC Under Pressure Amid Volatile Re-run
The Electoral Commission is conducting the rerun in 19 polling stations across Ablekuma North to resolve disputes stemming from the December 2024 general elections. Eighteen of the 37 contested stations have already had their results certified, with today’s vote meant to finalize the remaining.

The rerun follows a prolonged electoral impasse that has left the constituency without representation in Parliament for over seven months.

The exercise has been politically charged, with the NPP initially announcing a boycott and accusing the EC of acting under political pressure to favor the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC). However, NPP candidate Nana Akua Afriyie broke ranks with the party and chose to contest after her legal bid to stop the rerun was dismissed by the court.

The EC has denied accusations of bias and insisted it is committed to conducting a transparent, credible process.

Despite the violence and disruption, voting continues in other polling stations as electoral officers work to ensure the process concludes peacefully. Security has since been tightened at hotspots, but public concern remains high as tensions linger in what has become one of Ghana’s most fiercely contested constituencies.