2024 elections: one of the deadliest in our 4th Republican history – WACCE

The West Africa Centre for Counter Extremism (WACCE), a security organisation, has described the 2024 general elections as one of the most violent and deadly in the 4th Republic.

In its reports, WACCE also described several fire incidents during the election process as unfortunate.

It mentioned the burning of the Electoral Commission’s (EC) office in Ayensuano in the Eastern Region on December 10, 2024; a fire at the Kwashieman Cluster of Schools in the Ablekuma North constituency where ballot boxes were stored; the destruction of the EC office in Damongo in the Savannah Region on December 8, 2024; and attacks on public transport systems, including the Metro Mass Transport workshop in Sunyani on December 10, 2024.

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The election saw six people losing their lives while others suffered various degrees of injuries.

The report, which was released on January 7, 2025, stated that with many more victims receiving various treatments, the final casualty count is expected to be higher.

The report believes these incidents and the deaths recorded are an indelible stain on both the democratic image and the integrity of Ghana’s electoral process.

WACCE captured violent incidents during the election period. On December 7, 2024, at the Nyankpala lorry station in the Tolon constituency, 31-year-old steel bender Haruna Shaibu was shot and killed on the spot. On the same day in the Damongo Constituency, a 35-year-old man died from a gunshot wound during the collation process when he was struck by a stray bullet.

The report further identified a shooting incident in the Ewutu Senya East constituency in the Central Region on December 7, 2024, which resulted in one death. During the collation process at the Electoral Commission office in Mankranso, 33-year-old Kwasi Nimo succumbed to gunshot wounds at the Mankranso government hospital, while six others were injured in a confrontation over alleged election rigging.

It also captured an incident in Offinso North in the Ashanti Region, where a confrontation over looting at a warehouse containing fertilisers and rice led to the stabbing death of one person. Another person was injured by gunshot wounds and later died at the hospital.

“We consider the voting process as largely peaceful without time-wasting or technical hitches in most places, and many voters commend the process as seamless and, in most cases, cordial. And whilst the voting process was largely peaceful and smooth, the counting and results declaration processes undermined the idea of peaceful elections and the conditions considered for free, fair, and peaceful elections,” the statement added.

“The last lap of contentious coalitions and declarations of nine outstanding constituencies and the controversial issues surrounding them has a tendency of throwing the 9th parliament into a political tumult at its commencement and beyond.”

The statement, signed by Executive Director of WACCE, Mutaru Mumuni Muqthar, commended former Vice President Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia for his early acceptance of defeat before the official declaration by the EC.

“By the early concession, Ghana averted potential violence resulting from undue tensions, misinformation, and potential conjectures, as is typical of critical election outcomes.”