Ekow Hayford

Ekow Hayford (24 December 1970 – 9 October 2020) was a New Patriotic Party (NPP) MP for Mfantseman in the Central Region whose killing by armed robbers during the 2020 election campaign shocked the country.

Police, business and football

Hayford was born in Mankessim, the only child of his mother, Mena Aba Attah. He served in the Ghana Police Service from 1993 to 1998, rising to corporal, then went into business, running Modisa Lodge and Mantrac Ghana. He held a business degree from Methodist University College and an MBA in supply chain management from GIMPA, and was chief executive of Apam Football Club.

Parliament

He won Mfantseman in 2016 and sat on the Judiciary and Defence and Interior committees.

Death

In the early hours of 9 October 2020, while returning from a campaign tour, his vehicle was stopped by armed men on the Abeadze Dominase road. Reports said the attackers identified him as the MP before shooting him. The NPP chose his widow, Ophelia Hayford, a police officer, to replace him on the ballot, and she won the seat that December.