Ekow Hayford (24 December 1970 – 9 October 2020) was a Ghanaian politician and member of the Seventh Parliament of the Fourth Republic of Ghana representing the Mfantseman Constituency in the Central Region on the ticket of the

New Patriotic Party , logo = , colorcode = #132f7a , founder = , founded = 28 July 1992 , dissolved = , leader = Nana Akufo-Addo , chairman = Stephen Ayensu Ntim Stephen Ntim elected NPP National Chairman on fifth attempt http://www.gna.org.gh/1.2152672 ...

(NPP). He was killed on 9 October 2020. He was also the chief executive officer of Apam Football Club.

Early life and education

Hayford was born on 24 December 1970 in

Mankessim Mankessim is a town in the Central Region of Ghana, West Africa. It is approximately 75 km west of Accra, on the main road to Sekondi-Takoradi. It is the traditional headquarters of the Fante ethnic group of Ghana. Mankessim's history is ...

, Central Region of Ghana. He was the only child of his mother, Madam Mena Aba Attah. He held a Bachelor of Business Administration degree from the Methodist University College. He also held a Master of Business Administration (Supply Chain Management) degree from the

Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration The Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration (GIMPA) is a public co-educational university spread over four campuses (Accra, Tema, Kumasi and Takoradi) and made up of six schools, ten research centers located at Greenhill in Accra ...

(GIMPA).

Career and politics

Hayford's first career was in the

Ghana Police Service The Ghana Police Service (GPS) is the main law enforcement agency of Ghana. The service is under the control of the Ghanaian Ministry of the Interior, and employs over 30,000 officers across its 651 stations. Organisational structure The Ghana P ...

, in which he served from 1993 to 1998. He rose to the rank of Corporal. He resigned and went into private business. He was the chief executive officer and Manager of MODISA Lodge and MANTRAC Ghana Limited respectively prior to going into politics. In 2015, he was elected by delegates of the New Patriotic Party in Mfantseman to represent the party in the

2016 Ghanaian general election General elections were held in Ghana on 7 December 2016 to elect a President and Members of Parliament. They had originally been scheduled for 7 November 2016, but the date was later rejected by Parliament. Former foreign minister Nana Akufo-Ad ...

. He won the parliamentary seat with 46.82% of the total vote cast. He was a member the Judiciary Committee and Defence and interior committee in Parliament.

Personal life

Hayford was married with four children and was a member of the Methodist Church. He is reported to have two wives, Ophelia Quansah Hayford and Sarah Quansah Hayford.

Death

On 9 October 2020, while returning from a campaign tour, Hayford was shot dead by unknown persons. This occurred on the Abeadze Dominase – Abeadze Duadzi – Mankessim Road on his return from a campaign trip. He is reported to have been attacked at about 1:00 am Friday morning by six armed highway robbers. Reports indicate that Hayford was incidentally identified as the MP during the robbery and was specifically targeted and shot by the robbers, who blamed him for the problems being faced by the people in the country.

Subsequent developments

His wife Ophelia Hayford was a police officer until the death of her husband. She was nominated by the NPP to replace her husband as the party's candidate for the Mfantseman seat in the

2020 Ghanaian general election General elections were held in Ghana on 7 December 2020. Incumbent President Nana Akufo-Addo of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) was re-elected in the first round after securing a majority of the votes. Former President John Dramani Mahama says he ...

. It also emerged that Hayford actually had two wives. The second, Sarah Quansah Hayford, also has two children and was present at the initial funeral rites performed at Mankessim.

References