By Joyce Danso
Accra, Jan. 3, GNA – An Accra High Court is set to decide on January 4 regarding a mandamus application filed by the Electoral Commission (EC), seeking to collate parliamentary election results in four contested constituencies.
These constituencies include Tema Central, Techiman South, Ablekuma North, and Okaikwei Central.
The New Patriotic Party (NPP), represented by lead counsel Mr. Gary Nimako Marfo, filed the mandamus application as part of a judicial review.
The NPP is seeking to compel the EC to fulfill its constitutional duty of collating the election results in these four constituencies.
During the court’s session on Wednesday, lawyers representing the NPP, National Democratic Congress (NDC), and the EC presented their arguments.
Mr. Nimako Marfo moved the motion and submitted eight videos related to the disputed constituencies, alleging acts of intimidation and coercion during the declaration and collation of the results.
In the case of Tema Central, Mr. Nimako Marfo argued that the vote count was not accurate, yet Ebi Bright was declared the winner.
He further pointed out that the returning officer failed to present Form 1(d) and Form 1(c).
Mr. Nimako Marfo also claimed that two polling stations’ results were yet to be collated, and the process had been disrupted.
“The applicant’s (NPP) position is that none of the polling station could be ignored because even a vote could change the outcome of a Parliamentary results.”
Mr. Nimako Marfo recounted how the Electoral Commission (EC) had stated that, due to the circumstances depicted in one of the videos, the Returning Officer, Kwesi Brobbey, was unable to fulfill the EC’s mandate.
He argued that in the video, a man named John Nunoo was seen holding an A4 paper and declaring the parliamentary results, instead of the official Returning Officer.
“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.”
Mr. Nimako Marfo argued that if the deposition put forth by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) were to stand, it would set a “dangerous precedent for future elections.”
He pointed out that in the case of Patrick Boamah, only results from 110 out of the 141 polling stations had been declared.
Mr. Nimako Marfo urged the court to grant the mandamus application to ensure that the results from all 141 polling stations were collated.
He also asked the court to consider two additional applications filed on behalf of Techiman South and Ablekuma North, noting that he had already submitted statements of case and supporting affidavits for these constituencies.
On the other hand, Mr. Godwin Edudzi Tameklo, who represented the NDC, opposed the application, arguing that a mandamus could not be used to address a duty that the EC had already fulfilled.
He argued that CI 127 did not grant the EC the authority 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, arguing that it failed to meet the conditions required for the court’s jurisdiction to be invoked under Order 55.
He said that there was no public duty left for the EC to perform, and thus, the mandamus application was not applicable.
“On what basis are we going to order the EC? It has already performed its duty,” he asked.
“Is the EC saying that, after the declaration, they can go back and re-declare the same results?”
Mr. Tameklo argued that in the case of Techiman South, the applicant had raised the issue of falsification, which he pointed out was a criminal matter.
He contended that if there had indeed been any falsification, the applicant should have pursued an election petition rather than a judicial review.
Mr. Justin Amenuvor, counsel for the EC, urged the court to issue orders that would allow the EC to proceed with the completion of the collation process in the disputed constituencies.
He warned that if the court did not grant the application, it could set a dangerous precedent for Ghana’s democracy, allowing thugs and hoodlums to take control of constituency polling centers in the future.
GNA