Ablekuma North rerun:: We’ve been robbed – NPP
Frederick Green, the Ablekuma North Constituency Secretary of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), has accused the Electoral Commission (EC) and the sitting government of manipulating the just-ended parliamentary rerun to deny the party victory.
Speaking on Channel One News monitored by DailyNewsGhana shortly after the EC announced the results on Friday, July 11, Green said the outcome did not surprise the NPP, as they had long anticipated what he described as a coordinated effort to rig the election against their candidate.
“We are not surprised that this was going to happen because we’ve been robbed,” he stated. “We won, but the EC and the sitting government did everything they could to manipulate this election. Is this the kind of democracy we want to practice in Ghana?”
Green claimed that the party had collated results from all polling stations following the December 7, 2024, general election and only awaited the collation of three remaining polling stations. Instead, he said, the EC chose to organize a rerun in 19 polling stations—a decision he insists the party was neither informed of nor agreed to.
“We have the pink sheets for all 19 polling stations, and we won in about 15 of them in 2024,” he said. “So what they wanted to do was to skew us out and manipulate the electoral process. But we believe in the rule of law, so we’re calm and we accept it in good faith.”
Green’s comments follow a significant win by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the Ablekuma North Constituency, where Ewurabena Aubynn emerged victorious in the July 11 rerun. The outcome marks only the second time since 1992 that the NDC has won the seat, which has traditionally been considered a stronghold for the NPP.
The rerun stemmed from legal and procedural irregularities during the December 2024 election. Pink sheets from 19 polling stations lacked signatures from presiding officers, prompting the EC to delay declaring a winner.
In January 2025, a High Court ruling instructed the EC to complete collation, but continued issues with missing signatures and disagreements between the NDC and NPP led the EC to schedule fresh elections in the affected polling stations.
While the NPP leadership initially declared a boycott of the rerun, its candidate, Nana Akua Afriyie, chose to participate in the race, receiving support from several grassroots members and party figures.
Despite pre-election tensions, the rerun proceeded across all 19 polling stations, though there were incidents of violence. Reports emerged that Akua Afriyie and former Fisheries Minister Hawa Koomson were assaulted during disturbances at some polling centres. A journalist from GHOne TV was also attacked by a police officer, leading to the officer’s interdiction and referral to the Police Professional Standards Bureau.
By the end of the counting process, Ewurabena Aubynn of the NDC had secured 34,090 votes, narrowly defeating Akua Afriyie, who garnered 33,881 votes—a difference of 209 votes. The result ended nearly eight months of uncertainty and handed the NDC a strategic win in a highly contested constituency.
Ablekuma North, once a stronghold for the NPP, now reflects a more competitive political climate in the Greater Accra Region. The outcome may signal a shift in voter sentiments in urban constituencies, challenging traditional party strongholds and reshaping the political landscape ahead of future elections.