Newly elected Communications Director of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Dennis Miracles Aboagye, says the party will combine strategy with what he describes as “buga” to protect its votes in the 2028 general election.

Mr Aboagye said the NPP would not allow a repeat of what he alleged happened during the 2024 election, when he accused members and supporters of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) of disrupting the handling and collation of ballot papers and other election materials at some centres.

Speaking on The Pulse on JoyNews, Mr Aboagye said the NPP's position was not intended to undermine the Electoral Commission's work but to ensure that election materials were protected throughout the process.

He called on the NDC to allow the Electoral Commission and the police to perform their respective duties without interference.

“All they need to do is to simply stand by. Let the Electoral Commission do their work. Let the police do their work,” he said.

“Let the ballots be cast, let it be counted, let the pink sheet be filled, and let everybody go home.”

He warned, however, that the NPP would respond if it believed attempts were being made to interfere with the electoral process.

“But if they don’t and they think that what they did in 2024 will happen again, there’s going to be a combination of strategy and a combination of buga,” he said.

“Both of them will be combined. We are not going to drop one for the other. That error will not be committed again.”

Mr Aboagye further said the NPP would not allow any individual or group to interfere with ballot papers or ballot boxes during the 2028 election.

“Nobody is going to allow anybody to destroy a single ballot paper or ballot box in this country. It would not happen,” he said.

He said protecting the ballot would be a key responsibility of the party's newly elected First Vice Chairman, Kojo Fosu Bamba, popularly known as Chairman Bamba.

“Chairman Bamba is responsible for that department,” Mr Aboagye said when asked whether protecting the ballot would be the sole responsibility of the NPP First Vice Chairman.

When asked whether that meant the NPP intended to deploy people to protect the ballot on election day, Mr Aboagye responded: “Yes. On election day. Yes, on election day. Why not?”

He said the NPP had learnt lessons from the 2024 election and would take steps to prevent what he described as attacks on ballot boxes and election materials.

“We were in this country for the first time in a very long time. We brought close to about five or so constituencies to the police headquarters to count ballots. Why?” he asked.

According to Mr Aboagye, incidents in constituencies including Ablekuma North, Nsawam and Okaikwei Central showed the need for the NPP to take ballot security seriously.

He alleged that NDC supporters attacked or disrupted the electoral process at some of those locations.

“The NDC unleashed vigilantes to go to Ablekuma North, to go and burn ballot boxes. Went to Nsawam, invaded the collation centre, tore them apart. Okaikwei Central. And so many other places in this country,” he alleged.

“That will not happen again, and take it from me. Chairman Bamba is responsible for that department.”

Mr Aboagye said the NPP's decision to strengthen its ballot protection arrangements was based on what he described as concerns about the ability of the police to fully secure election materials.

“The police are telling us that they can’t protect the ballot,” he said.

He argued that the party could not afford to ignore the lessons of the 2024 election.

“There are videos of these NDC vigilantes all over 2024 destroying ballot materials,” he said.

Mr Aboagye insisted that the NPP would take steps to protect all ballot boxes used in the 2028 election.

“Each of the 40,000 or 40 over 40,000 ballot boxes will be protected by the NPP,” he said.

“Because if we fail to protect it, the police will sit down for Mustapha Gbande and his people to run amok in this country and destroy ballot boxes, take apart pink sheets and everything. It will not happen,” he added.

Mr Aboagye also referred to an incident in Abuakwa North, where he alleged that NDC supporters blocked an Electoral Commission vehicle transporting ballot boxes after voting and counting had ended.

He claimed the ballot boxes were subsequently seized and damaged.

“These NDC hoodlums went to block the Electoral Commission vehicle, snatched the ballot boxes and started tearing it apart,” he alleged.

“And you think that as a party, we should sit down and let that happen? Call it whatever you want to call it. If you want to call Chairman Bamba the head of the ballot protection unit of the NPP, that is who it is,” he added.

He said the First Vice Chairman's responsibilities should not be reduced to protecting ballot boxes, but maintained that the party had a duty to ensure that its votes were not compromised.

“If Bamba’s sole responsibility as vice chairman will be to help protect the NPP’s ballot, that so be it,” he said.