A Line in the Sand: Akwatia Rejected Arrogance and Galamsey
Peace came to Akwatia on September 2, but it was not the quiet peace of apathy. It was a peace deliberately chosen by ordinary people who could have walked away, who could have given in to provocation, but instead lined up to cast their votes. Behind the ballot papers were human stories, weary voices, expectant faces, and the cries of a community that has seen too much neglect and too little change.
I watched a young men who admitted they were waiting for money on election day. Politics has conditioned them to believe that voting is payday, not a civic duty. Others, restless and worn, spoke of joblessness and the roads that kill their cars and their dreams. One man, his face lined with both age and disappointment, lamented that the youth had already lost hope of a future without galamsey. He spoke of rivers poisoned, land wasted, and lives swallowed by pits. His words carried the grief of generations yet unborn.
Then there was the market woman. She was blunt, her voice rising above the chatter. The youth, she said, need role models. They need leaders who inspire, not men who enrich themselves by scarring the earth. She drew the contrast plainly: between a lawyer and an alleged galamseyer. Her words were judgment enough.
The lawyer was Bernard Bediako Baidoo of the NDC, once legal counsel for Henry Boakye, who had challenged Ernest Kumi in 2024. The alleged galamseyer, a respected miner, was Solomon Asumadu of the NPP, stepping into Kumi’s vacant shoes. Both were first timers on the ballot. But for the people of Akwatia, this was not a vote about past loyalties. It was about the future. And in choosing the lawyer, they rejected the stain of galamsey that has defined their lives for too long.
Yet this election did not unfold in silence. In the weeks before, we saw tempers flare. At Kumi’s memorial, Johnson Asiedu Nketiah was nearly attacked after his infamous throat slashing gesture. Afenyo Markin thundered about reciprocity, as though seats in Parliament were favors to be traded. Salam Mustapha warned that masked police would be treated as thugs. Even the former Vice President, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, waded in with speculative claims about Kumi’s death. The noise was deafening. But the people of Akwatia were not distracted. They endured it all and chose with their thumbs.
The numbers confirmed what many already felt. From ninety one polling stations, the NDC led 13,784 to 10,391. By the final tally, the margin had widened. It was not just victory, it was a purge. An echo of Tsatsu Tsikata’s timeless counsel: let the dead bury the dead. Musah Danquah’s polls had predicted it, and they did not miss.
But election day was not without drama. At the lorry station, Sofo Azorka of the NDC slapped NPP’s Chairman Buga. For a moment, all eyes turned from ballots to fists. The talk of Azorka Boys and Buga Boys threatened to tip peace into chaos. Yet paradoxically, the hero of the day was not the man who struck but the man who restrained. Buga, known for his buga buga, did not retaliate. He held back his men. He chose maturity, and in that choice, peace held. Sometimes restraint is the loudest form of strength.
And so, Akwatia voted. They voted against arrogance. They voted against the rot of galamsey. They voted for the hope that law and order can replace pits and poisoned streams. This is not just about Parliament adding one more NDC seat. It is about a community drawing a line in the sand and saying we want better.
The challenge now is for Parliament and government to honor that choice. Akwatia deserves more than bulldozers that arrive only on election day. It deserves jobs, infrastructure, and above all, freedom from galamsey. If the people’s cry is ignored again, they will not stay silent. They will speak again, and louder.
On September 2, the Elephant fell in a pit, the Eagle soared, and the people of Akwatia chose an umbrella over their heads. That is the human story of this by-election.
Credit - Kay Codjoe ,Writer
P. S. One NPP MP swore to vacate his seat should the NDC win. He has since apologized with explanation, but he go explain tire.
