Miracles threatens to establish ‘self-protection committee’ following violence at Ablekuma North rerun

Dennis Miracles Aboagye, an aide to former Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, has issued a stern warning to both the Ghana Police Service and President John Dramani Mahama, demanding immediate action over the violence that disrupted the Ablekuma North parliamentary rerun.

Speaking on Channel One TV’s Breakfast Daily on Wednesday, July 16, Mr. Aboagye expressed frustration over the lack of accountability and the delay in action, six days after the chaos. He warned that if no decisive measures are taken by Saturday, July 12, he would propose the formation of a “Self-Protection Committee.”

“It has been six days. If nothing is done, the only thing that will be left for the NPP to do is to set up the Self-Protection Committee on Saturday, and I am going to insist,” he said.

The former deputy communications director for the NPP explained that the proposal would be presented at the party’s reform conference on Saturday, July 12.

He stated that while the NPP has a legal and elections committee, it now needs a dedicated protection unit for its members and voters, especially in areas prone to violence.

“Saturday is a conference for reforms. I will raise my hand and recommend that while we have a legal and elections committee, we need a Self-Protection Committee. Because if the NPP doesn’t do that, I will not go out there to any polling station,” he said.

Aboagye explained that the committee would act as a protective force for NPP members and voters in volatile regions where the police presence is insufficient. He also stressed the importance of ensuring that party members, like himself, are safeguarded in chaotic situations.

“The nature of this committee will be that when we find ourselves in a chaotic scene, I should have like 10 or 20 people from the NPP standing in to protect me because the police cannot do it for me. Between now and Saturday, if the Ghana Police and the President do not act, I will recommend a Self-Protection Committee whose responsibility is to ensure that NPP functionaries and other citizens who go to vote will have protection,” he stated.

His comments follow violent clashes at the St. Peter’s Methodist Church polling station on Friday, July 11, during the rerun, where a group of unidentified men stormed the station, disrupted voting, and assaulted several individuals. Former Fisheries Minister Mavis Hawa Koomson was among those reportedly attacked by the assailants.

In response to the violence, Minister for the Interior, Mubarak Muntaka, assured the public that all those involved in the disturbances, regardless of political affiliation, would be prosecuted.