By Joyce Danso
Accra, Jan. 2, GNA – An Accra High Court will on January 4, decide on a mandamus application over Electoral Commission (EC) decision to collate parliamentary election results in four disputed
Constituencies.
The four constituencies are Tema Central, Techiman South Ablekuma North and Okaikwei Central.
The New Patriotic Party (NPP) through its lead counsel, Mr Gary Nimako Marfo, commenced a mandamus application in the form of judicial review to compel the EC to perform its constitutional and mandatory duty to collate election results in the four constituencies.
When sitting resumed today, the court gave lawyers for the parties namely, NPP, NDC and EC to argue their cases out.
Mr Nimako Marfo moved the motion and tendered eight videos on the four disputed constituencies, suggesting that there were acts of intimidation and cohesion in the declaration and collation of some of the results.
In the case of Tema Central Mr Nimako Marfo held that the votes garnered were not stated, yet the NDC candidate was declared the winner in that constituency.
According to him, although Ebi Bright was declared the winner, the said returning officer failed to exhibit Form 1 (d) and Form I (c).
Counsel for the NPP argued further that there were two outstanding polling stations which were yet to be collated and that process had been truncated.
“The applicant’s (NPP) position is that none of the polling stations could be ignored because even a vote could change the outcome of a Parliamentary results.”
He recounted how the EC deposed to the fact that due to the state of affairs in one of the videos, the Returning Officer known as Kwesi Brobbey could not carry out the mandate of the EC.
Counsel for the NPP held that in the video, it was one John Nunoo who had an A4 paper in hands, who could be seen declaring the parliamentary results.
“Collation without incorporating the entire polling station votes cannot be called collation in the eyes of the law and people who exercised their franchise would be disenfranchised.”
He submitted that if the deposition canvassed by the NDC was made to stand it would be a “dangerous recipe for future elections.”
In the case of Patrick Boamah, the NPP lawyer said it was clear that out of the 141 polling stations, only 110 were declared.
He therefore urged the court to grant the mandamus application so that there would be collation in all the 141 polling stations.
Mr Nimako Marfo urged the court to consider two other applications filed on behalf of Techiman South and Ablekuma North moved because he has filed statement of case and supporting affidavits.
Mr Godwin Edudzi Tameklo, who represented the NDC, opposed the application, saying mandamus could not be used to remedy a duty already performed by the EC.
Mr Tameklo held that nowhere in CI 127 indicated that the EC had been given the mandate to revoke a declared result.
“I dare to say that power of CI 127 does not confer on the EC the power of revocation after results had been declared.”
Counsel for the NDC therefore urged the court to dismiss the application because it failed to meet the condition for which the court jurisdiction could be invoked under Order 55.
He held that the there was no public duty that the EC was going to perform “On what basis are we going to order the EC? It has already performed its duty,” he quizzed.
He asked “is the EC saying that, after declaration, they can go back and re-declare those same results?”
Mr Tameklo held that in the case of Techiman South, the applicant had raised the issue of falsification which he said was a crime.
According to Mr Tameklo, if there was any falsification, the applicant should have come under the armpit of election petition and not judicial review.
Mr Justin Amenuvor, counsel for the EC, urged the court to make orders so that the EC could go ahead and complete the collation in the disputed constituencies.
According to him, if the court did not grant the application, it would serve as a bad precedence for Ghana’s democracy as thugs, hoodlums would soon take over constituency polling centres in
the country.
There was heavy police presence although it was a holiday, Party sympathizers and big wigs thronged to the court today.
GNA