News:
June 5, 2025
The Minority on Wednesday morning, June 4, 2025, walked from Parliament to the Police headquarters to present a petition to the Inspector General of Police Christian Tetteh Yohuno over the continued failure by the police to provide adequate security required by the electoral commission to collate and declare the Ablekuma North parliamentary elections following the 2024 presidential and parliamentary elections.
Chief whip of the Minority Frank Annoh Dompreh who read out the petition on behalf of his colleagues note that the European Union elections expert mission and domestic observers indicated that last year’s elections was credible and reflects Ghana’s democratic commitment.
Yet, the Ablekuma North constituency stands out as a shocking exception. Since December 2024, the parliamentary results have not been declared, thereby denying the people of Ablekuma North their Right to representation under the 1992 Constitution.
This is without precedent in the Fourth Republic and constitutes a serious blot on our democratic record.
Under Ghana’s electoral framework, the Election Security Task Force (ESTF) — chaired by the Inspector General of Police—is responsible for security during the entire electoral process, including the collation of results.
Yet, in this instance, the Task Force abdicated its duty at a critical moment, leaving the EC without protection and allowing lawlessness to disrupt a fundamental democratic exercise.
Facts giving rise to the Petition
1. Nearly six months after the December 2024 general elections, the Electoral Commission of Ghana has not declared the official parliamentary results for the Ablekuma North Constituency.
2. The absence of a declared Member of Parliament for Ablekuma North constitutes a serious violation of the constitutional right to representation guaranteed under Ghana’s 1992 Constitution.
3. The Electoral Commission initially attempted to conduct the collation process but was obstructed due to reported threats and acts of intimidation at the collation centre, allegedly led by the Greater Accra Regional Organiser of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), with support from unidentified individuals in military attire.
4. Following a premature and unlawful declaration of results under duress, the High Court, in a ruling dated 4th January 2025, ordered the Electoral Commission to complete the collation process and directed the Ghana Police Service to provide the necessary security to facilitate the exercise.
5. On 17th January 2025, the Electoral Commission scheduled the continuation of the collation process and formally requested police protection. This request was ignored. On the morning of the scheduled exercise, the Ghana Police Service declined to provide the needed security, citing intelligence concerns and failed to deploy personnel to either of the Commission’s premises, thereby forcing the EC to suspend the exercise once again.
6. The absence of security led to the invasion of the collation centre by party supporters, including unidentified men in military uniform, forcing EC officials to abandon the process.
7. The Commission has since expressed its readiness to proceed but continues to face a lack of cooperation from the Ghana Police Service, as confirmed in official communications. This is not merely an administrative failure. It is a constitutional crisis and a grave affront to democratic governance.
8. A subsequent high-level meeting involving the Inspector-General of Police, the Electoral Commission, and the Election Security Task Force reaffirmed the importance of concluding the collation, yet no action has been taken to date.
Demands by the Minority
The continued disenfranchisement of the people of Ablekuma North represents not only a denial of their constitutional rights to representation but also an affront to the democratic principles enshrined in the 1992 Constitution. This crisis erodes public trust in the integrity and independence of state institutions, particularly the Ghana Police Service.
We therefore request that your office takes immediate steps to:
1. Deploy adequate security personnel to the Electoral Commission at its designated collation centre;
2. Ensure an enabling environment for the peaceful and lawful conclusion of the collation and declaration process in Ablekuma North;
3. Uphold the High Court’s directive and cooperate fully with the EC to bring closure to this matter.
The Ghana Police Service must not be perceived as the institution standing in the way of democracy. Democracy delayed is democracy denied. We urge your leadership to act with urgency and in good faith to restore the people’s confidence in Ghana’s democratic process.
Kwaku Sakyi-Danso/Ghanamps.com