A leading academic, Prof Smart Sarpong, has criticised the Electoral Commission (EC) and Ghana’s security agencies for their “near ineptitude” in handling the Ablekuma North parliamentary rerun.
The Director of Research at Kumasi Technical University (KsTU), is also warning that political violence could reoccur as the State prepares for a by-election in Akwatia in the Eastern Region.
“I would put the blame at the doorstep of the security system and the Electoral Commission. Much as we wish to see an improved and independent Electoral Commission, they must avail themselves to constructive, forward-looking criticism,” Sarpong said during an interview on The Forum on Asaase Radio on Saturday (12 July).
Voting in 19 polling stations in Ablekuma North was marred by chaos, alleged vote-buying, and assaults on journalists and political figures. Last Friday’s rerun sought to resolve a disputed parliamentary poll from December 2024.
Prof Sarpong who questioned both the decision and the EC’s level of preparedness further condemned the police for failing to intervene when journalists were attacked.
“[And] at the advent of these hoodlums, the police disappear—not because they fear them, but because they suspect they may be acting on behalf of some powerful figure.”
“It doesn’t look like the state machinery is up to the task. There is no guarantee that what happened at Ablekuma North won’t happen at Akwatia,” he posited.
