Majority Leader and Bawku Central MP, Mahama Ayariga, has come under intense scrutiny for downplaying the violence that erupted during the Ablekuma North parliamentary rerun, describing the chaos as insignificant compared to the election violence he has personally experienced in his own constituency.
Addressing Parliament in response to calls from the Minority for an investigation into the disturbances, Ayariga bluntly stated:
“I have experienced them in real violent situations in elections. The week before this last election, there were persistent gunshots in my constituency, and I couldn’t even come out of my house. Persistent, not what you people are doing. Not this child’s play at Ablekuma. This is children playing.”
His remarks come in the wake of serious disturbances that marred the Ablekuma North by-election. At the St. Peter’s polling station, MP Mavis Hawa Koomson was reportedly attacked by unidentified thugs, halting voting temporarily. In another incident, the NPP’s Chris Lloyd Nii Kwei Asamoah was violently assaulted, with footage of the beatings circulating widely online.
Despite mounting outrage and calls for accountability, Ayariga appeared to trivialise the situation, brushing off the violence as inconsequential. His comments have since triggered sharp reactions from both sides of the House, with critics accusing him of undermining efforts to curb political violence.
The Minority Caucus has rejected Ayariga’s position, maintaining that the Ablekuma North incident must be thoroughly investigated. They argue that minimising such acts of aggression only emboldens political thuggery and weakens Ghana’s democratic processes.
While Ayariga’s comments reflect the harsh realities of entrenched electoral violence in certain parts of the country, they also expose a dangerous complacency among political elites, many of whom have come to accept violence as a routine part of Ghana’s electoral landscape.
As the debate rages on, the need for a nonpartisan, zero-tolerance approach to election-related violence has never been more urgent.
