Dennis Miracles Aboagye, an aide to former Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, has criticised President John Dramani Mahama for his silence on the chaos that marred the partial rerun of the Ablekuma North parliamentary election.
The New Patriotic Party (NPP) communicator described as “sad” the fact that, six days after the widely condemned violence in which several civilians were assaulted, the President has not even made a social media post about it.
Speaking on Accra-based Channel One TV’s Breakfast Daily show on Wednesday, July 16, Miracles Aboagye reiterated his condemnation of the violence and urged the President to comment on it.
“I’m really sad that it’s been… how many days? Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Monday, Wednesday — six days — and the President is yet to make a simple comment on this. Just a simple comment. Journalists were beaten all over the place. Forget about the politicians who were beaten.
“There were a lot of ordinary people. Did you see the lady being slapped and molested? She’s an ordinary citizen of the community. Some people standing by had their eyes swollen and all of that. And you have the President completely silent, as if he doesn’t live in the country,” he said.
“You don’t need to be in Ghana to get internet to tweet. You don’t need to be in Ghana to make a Facebook post. Those things are very simple gestures to show your people you care,” he added.
The rerun, held across 19 polling stations, followed disputes from the 2024 general election.
It ended with the National Democratic Congress (NDC) candidate, Ewurabena Aubynn, winning with 34,090 votes, ending the NPP’s 28-year hold on the seat. The NPP’s Nana Akua Owusu Afriyie polled 33,881 votes.
The exercise was marred by violent incidents, including widely circulated videos showing NPP stalwart Hawa Koomson being assaulted and crawling on the ground, and police officers allegedly assaulting a journalist and others.
The NPP’s Deputy National Organiser was also reportedly beaten by thugs during the exercise.
Meanwhile, the Minister for the Interior, Mohammed Muntaka Mubarak, has assured the public that perpetrators of the violence will not be allowed to walk free but will face justice.
