Police Arrest 7 Suspects for Disrupting NPP Constituency Executive Elections at Wiamoase
Police in the Ashanti North Region have arrested seven persons, including the alleged ringleader, following a violent disturbance that disrupted the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Afigya Sekyere East Constituency Executive Elections at Wiamoase.
The incident occurred on Sunday, July 12, 2026, at about 7:45 a.m. at the SDA Church polling station, where the elections were being conducted.
According to a police statement signed by Assistant Superintendent Emmanuel Agbodzi, Public Affairs Officer for the Ashanti North Regional Police Command, one Kwame Afrifa Mensah, aged 43, led a group of about 30 macho men to the polling station.
When security personnel engaged the group to ascertain the purpose of their presence, they became aggressive, attacked the police, and disrupted the electoral process by throwing electoral materials onto the ground.
The police swiftly arrested the suspected ringleader, Kwame Afrifa Mensah, together with six others, to assist with investigations. The remaining members of the group escaped, and efforts are underway to arrest them.
Preliminary investigations indicate that suspect Afrifa Mensah claimed some of his supporters had been sidelined in the electoral process and that he had obtained an interlocutory injunction to halt the elections.
However, the police statement noted that neither the Electoral Commission nor the Police received any court order or injunction directing the suspension of the elections.
Following the police intervention, calm was restored, and voting resumed with adequate security. The election ended peacefully at about 4:00 p.m., after which the Electoral Commission duly declared the results.
Later on the same day, suspect Afrifa Mensah and another suspect, Osman Awuni, aged 44, complained of ill health and were taken to the Mampong Government Hospital, where they were admitted for treatment. The two suspects remain under police guard while receiving treatment.
The incident comes amidst ongoing constituency executive elections across the country, which the NPP National Secretariat has reported as largely successful, with 245 out of 276 constituencies completing the process peacefully.
The Afigya Sekyere East constituency was previously listed among four constituencies scheduled for review by the party’s National Steering Committee following election-related challenges.
Investigations are ongoing, and the police have assured the public that further updates will be provided.
