Member of Parliament for Ketu North, Eric Edem Agbana, has condemned the recent violence that marred the Ablekuma North constituency election rerun at 19 polling stations on July 11, 2025.

Speaking on the floor of Parliament on July 16, 2025, Edem Agbana described the incident as a threat to Ghana’s democratic process.

“As a Member of Parliament, I join all discerning Ghanaians who are condemning the violence that we saw at Ablekuma North last week Friday,” he stated.

According to him, electoral violence undermines public confidence and participation and must not be tolerated under any circumstances.

“Violence in elections is a threat to our democracy and we must all join hands to ensure that Ghanaians can go to the polls and vote for people that they wish to lead them without the fear of been confronted with any act of violence,” he said

Edem Agbana expressed shock that the Minority’s call for justice in the matter.

According to him, the NPP has a track record of presiding over violent elections.

“I find it very, very intriguing that the call for justice and the condemnation of what happened at Ablekuma North is coming from the Minority side,” he said.

According to him, between 2017 and 2024, most elections under the NPP administration were characterised by acts of violence, often carried out with the backing of state forces.

He termed those events as “state-sponsored violence,” which undermine the credibility of Ghana’s electoral process.

He recounted the experience of how he was attacked by some men in national security uniforms during the Ayawaso West Wuogon by-election in 2019, despite having accreditation from the Electoral Commission.

“I had no weapon, not even a pen or paper… but Mr Speaker, men cladded in national security apparel moved to me and attacked me. They did so in the presence of the military,” he said.

He expressed surprise that the former Minister of Defense, Dominic Nitiwul, under whose watch such violence took place, is now demanding investigations into the violence that took place in the Ablekuma North constituency.

“What did he do when he was Minister of Defence?” he asked.

According to him, the attack happened right in the presence of the military, police and some top NPP officials, an incident he claims that he has evidence of.

“Right in front of the military, in front of the police, I was attacked in front of NPP national executives,” he recounted.

“I have records. There are voices, pictures of NPP officials who praised and even mocked Sam George and I, that they could have done better, or the thugs should have beaten us better,” he added.

He, however, reiterated his stance against violence and condemned what he described as “selective outrage”.

“Mr Speaker, I condemn violence, but my point is that he who calls for equity, if you cannot come with clean hands, at least hold a hand sanitizer,” he stated.

Edem Agbana praised President John Dramani Mahama for showing true leadership by directing the IGP to investigate the killings that happened during the 2020 general election.

“I have seen that President Mahama is different. In his first 100 days, he instructed the IGP to open investigations into the killings in the 2020 elections,” he said.

He subsequently called on the House to observe a minute silence in honour of Tuareg and the eight individuals who died in the 2020 general election, along with others affected by political violence.

AS/VPO