The Minority Leader and Member of Parliament for Effutu Constituency, Alexander Kwamina Afenyo-Markin, has rejected suggestions to abandon his monitoring of the ongoing by-election at Akwatia.

Reacting to threats issued against him by the Vice Chairman of the National Democratic Congress, Sofo Azorka, he said he remains resolute in leading his party, the New Patriotic Party, in monitoring the election.

He further called on his fellow party leaders not to cower in fear of violence and to join the monitoring.

“I’ve heard the NDC’s Vice Chairman, Sofo Azorka, is on radio and TV speaking against me and threatening to kill me. Well, that’s his own issue. What I know is that he and his Azorka boys are known for going about and killing people, and this is not his first time issuing threats, but I am not a coward.

“So, I want to tell the NPP leaders in Accra that the time is just 2 PM, and it’s not late yet. We have foot soldiers on the ground. So, the rants of Azorka should not frighten anyone to sit in their rooms back in Accra out of fear. Politics is not conducted out of fear; it is done with courage," he said.

NDC's Azorka threatens Afenyo-Markin at Akwatia

The Minority Leader further said that; “Our forebears who established the party, the likes of JB Danquah and others, went to jail. Some of them died in jail. So, let nobody be scared. From what I have witnessed in Akwatia, the dedication and sacrifice by our youth give me hope that in 2028, if we work in unity, victory will be ours."

The Minority Leader added that he is unwavering in his resolve, emphasising that his title, conferred on him by the Effutu Traditional Council as Osahen of the Effutu state, was not by accident.

“So, I will not abandon here and run to Accra while our foot soldiers are here working because Sofo Azorka says he will kill me, so I am running away. If he says he will kill me, he should go ahead and kill me. As a human, once you die, that’s it. So, if he claims to have the strength to kill, so be it,” he stated.

The Minority Leader, however, expressed satisfaction with the process that had unfolded so far and further expressed hope that the process would conclude in a fair and transparent manner.

Akwatia By-Election: NPP Vice Chair slapped during fracas with NDC's Azorka

A National Vice Chairman of the ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC), Sofo Azorka, in the early hours of the by-election, issued a strong warning to the Minority Leader in Parliament and Member of Parliament for Effutu Constituency, Alexander Kwamina Afenyo-Markin.

Speaking to the press during the ongoing by-election, Sofo Azorka, who accused the Minority Leader of leading some NPP supporters to remove posters at the NDC constituency office in Akwatia, warned that if he had encountered Afenyo-Markin at the NDC office, it would have resulted in a by-election in the Effutu Constituency.

According to Azorka, who is also in Akwatia monitoring the election, he rushed to the constituency office upon hearing of the incident but found the Minority Leader absent, a development he said Afenyo-Markin should consider fortunate.

“They said Afenyo-Markin came here. Wallahi, if he had come to meet me, there would be a by-election in his constituency. We were at a polling station, and we were told he was here. If we had met him here, I swear to God, there would have been a by-election in Afenyo-Markin's constituency. We are ready for that. If you are not respecting the police, wallahi, we will do a by-election in his constituency. He was lucky we came to find them already gone,” he told the press in the Twi language.

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In a video of the incident sighted by GhanaWeb, a man who has since been confirmed by eyewitnesses to be an escort of Chief Azorka was seen slapping Alhaji Masawudu in the face amidst a scuffle.

The actual reasons behind the attack are yet to be established.

However, in a video showing the immediate events preceding the slap, Azorka is seen furiously confronting the NPP Vice Chairman before a scuffle broke out between the two and their entourages.

We are not afraid of the death threats of Azorka, for we are resolute in our efforts to ensure that victory is chalked

— Minority Leader Afenyo-Markin pic.twitter.com/5vdMsDLN3T

— Nαɳα Kɯαɱҽ (@NanaKwame_off) September 2, 2025