By Joyce Danso
Accra, Jan. 4, GNA – An Accra High Court has ordered the Electoral Commission (EC) to collate and declare parliamentary election results in four disputed Constituencies by January 6, 2025
The four constituencies are Tema Central, Ablekuma North, Okaikwei Centra and Techiman South.
The court further ordered the Inspector General of Police to provide adequate security in the Regional Collating Centre to enable the EC carry out its constitutional mandate.
In Tema Central, the EC is expected to collate two outstanding results in two polling stations. The two outstanding polling stations results are to be added to the already 146 polling station collated results and a winner declared by a Returning Officer as stipulated by law.
The court held that not all parliamentary results were collated and results declared.
According to the court, the results were not declared by the Returning officer assigned by the EC.
According to the Court, it noted that results in the Tema Central were collated in 146 polling stations, leaving two outstanding.
However (Ebi Bright, the Parliamentary Candidate) was declared the winner over New Patriotic Party”s Charles Forson.
In Ablekuma North Constituency, the court ordered the EC to collate 62 outstanding parliamentary results in addition to the 219 collated results and the winner declared by a Returning Officer.
Ablekuma North Constituency has a total of 281 Polling Stations with the tussel erupting between Nana Akua Owusu Afriyie of the New Patriotic Party and Ewurabena Aubynn of the National Democratic Congress.
In Okaikwei Central, the EC was ordered by the court to collate parliamentary election results in 31 outstanding polling stations, including Special Polling station voting.
Additionally, the EC was to add already collated results in 130 polling stations and declare the winner. In Okaikwei Central the tussel is between Patrick Boamah of the NPP and Baba Sadik of the NDC.
In Techiman South, the court explained that the EC was to collate outstanding parliamentary election results in 147 polling stations.
According to the court, out of the 282 Polling stations in the constituency, results were declared after 135 polling stations results had been collated.
The contest was between Martin Kweku Agyei Mensah Korsah of the NPP and Dr Christopher Beyere Basongti of the NDC.
The court said its judgement was based on law and exhibits produced by the applicants and Interested Parties together with the statements of case and affidavits from respective lawyers in the form videos.
According to the Court, it found out that there were acts of intimidation and duress suffered by election officers to declare results and in some cases there was pandamonium which resulted in the destruction of property.
It therefore held that grounds of filing an application for mandamus by way of judicial review had been met.
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.
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 result.”
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 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 and Party sympathizers as big wigs thronged the court.
Meanwhile, the NDC says it will appeal against the High Court’s decision.
GNA