‘You politicians have made the country very hard to live in’ – Eyewitness recounts how Mfantseman MP was shot

Ekow Quansah Hayford, the Member of Parliament for Mfantseman in the Central Region was shot dead by unknown assailants, according to reports.

Sources say the MP of the incumbent NPP was shot on the Abeadze-Dominase-Abeadze Duadzi-Mankessim Road while returning from a campaign trip.

The MP, according to eyewitness accounts, had visited four communities within his constituency to campaign for reelection for another four-year term.

An eye witness explained that when they embark on such campaigns and it is late, they try to find a place to eat before they continue their journey.

On their way around 11 pm on Thursday, they saw that the road ahead of them was blocked so their driver decided to slow down while holding the view that there may be an accident scene ahead of them.

“The campaign coordinator for the area was the one leading with his motorcycle so we saw that he had been stopped by the robbers, when we moved a step further, we saw that they were with guns. Ekow Quansah Hayford was seated at the front seat of the vehicle then he began to scream ‘armed robbers, armed robbers’, so he asked, ‘What do we do?’”, the eyewitness recalled.

“We decided to manoeuvre and find a way to escape but the robbers shot our vehicle and it stopped abruptly,” the eyewitness added. “They approached our vehicle and asked [us] to bring our valuable items. So, they took my phone and money and I heard them asking the MP to bring his phone and money when he responded that his money…his money and they pulled him out of the vehicle.”

He continued: “When the robbers started engaging the MP, then he [robber] said, ‘You politicians have made the country very hard to live in.’ “They brought all of us down and asked us to lie prostrate so we thought they were going to shoot us. One stated that we are not after your life…so they asked the driver why he didn’t stop when he was asked to...”

The eyewitness remarked that the robbers shot the wrist of the driver who immediately began to scream, “I’m dying, I’m dying...”

“While trying to escape, I heard some voices saying that the MP is dead. I reached [...] where he was shot and indeed I met the lifeless [body of] Ekow Quansah Hayford,” the eyewitness said.

“I was praying that if he will be shot, at least they should shoot his hand or somewhere that he will survive...,” the eyewitness said in a sad tone.

The MP's driver is also reported dead.

Listen to the eyewitness account below.