Court orders EC to re-collate 6 constituencies...NDC goes to Supreme Court to stop EC

The Accra High Court has ordered the Electoral Commission (EC) to bring finality to the election in six constituencies by collating the results and declaring the winners in tandem with the electoral laws of the country.

The six constituencies are Tema Central, Nsawam-Adoagyir, Ablekuma North, Ahafo Ano North, Techiman South and Okaikwei Central.

Apart from the order to collate the results and declare the winners, the court, presided over by Justice Rev. Fr Joseph Adu Owusu Agyemang, further ordered the Inspector-General of Police (IGP) to provide the EC with adequate security at the collation centres to enable the commission to discharge its duties.

The court gave the orders yesterday after it upheld different mandamus applications filed by the respective New Patriotic Party (NPP) parliamentary candidates (PCs) for the six constituencies.

The applicants are Patrick Yaw Boamah, Okakwei Central; Martin Kweku Adjei-Mensa; Techiman South, Eric Nana Agyemang Prempeh, Ahafo Ano North; Nana Akua Owusu Afriyieh, Ablekuma North. Frank Annoh-Dompreh, Nsawam-Adoagyiri, and Charles Forson, Tema Central.

Mandamus is a form of judicial review that gives a court the power to order public bodies to perform their duties as required by law.

Applications

It was the case of the applicants that the collation of results of the said constituencies were marred by violence, leading the EC to truncate the process.

They further averred that in spite of their respective petitions to the EC to discharge its constitutional duties to collate the results, the electoral management body had still failed to do so.

“That even though the demand letter was served on the respondent on the same 13th December, 2024 and acknowledged receipt of same, respondent has failed or refused to collate and declare the results and winner of the parliamentary elections at the Tema Central Constituency.

“That it is very clear that the respondent has failed or refused to perform its duty as required of it by law despite demand on them to do so,” the applicant stated.

NDC dismissed 

Meanwhile, the same court also dismissed an application by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) seeking an order for judicial review to quash the EC’s decision to re-collate the results in five constituencies.

The NDC, in its application, also wanted the court to prohibit the EC from re-collating the results in the five constituencies.

In a press conference last Thursday, the EC rejected the collation of nine constituencies.

Speaking at the news conference at the Commission’s headquarters in Accra, the EC Chairperson, Jean Mensa, explained that the collation of results in those constituencies were disrupted by supporters of some political parties, rendering the process incomplete.  

“In the view of the commission, upholding such unlawful collations and declarations will set a bad precedent for our country and set us back to the dark days," Mrs Mensa said.  

The affected constituencies are Nsawam-Adoagyiri, Ahafo Ano South West, Ahafo Ano North, Obuasi East, Dome-Kwabenya, Okaikwei Central, Ablekuma North, Tema Central, and Techiman South.

The NDC, however, wanted the court to quash the decision in respect of Dome-Kwabenya, Okaikwei Central, Ablekuma North, Tema Central, and Obuasi East constituencies, arguing that the EC was acting above its powers and in contravention of the electoral laws of the country.

However, the court dismissed the application on the basis that it could uphold an illegality, paving way for the EC to re-collate the results from the five constituencies.

Meanwhile, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) has gone to the Supreme Court to quash the Accra High Court’s decision to order the Electoral Commission (EC) to collate and re-collate the results in six constituencies.

The NDC filed the application for certiorari, together with its parliamentary candidates for the six constituencies yesterday, barely four hours after the High Court ordered the EC to conduct the re-collation in tandem with the law.

The constituencies in question are Tema Central, Nsawam-Adoagyir, Ablekuma North, Ahafo Ano North, Techiman South and Okaikwei Central.

Certiorari application 

In its application before the Supreme Court, the NDC was of the contention that the High Court failed to give its parliamentary candidates for the six constituencies hearing before granting the mandamus orders for the EC to conduct the collation.

The NDC is also seeking an order of stay of execution suspending the High Court’s decision pending the final determination of its application.

Again, the NDC is asking the Supreme Court for an order of prohibition, stopping the EC from going ahead with the collation or any re-collation. 

The certiorari application was filed by Godwin Kudzo Tameklo, who is the Director of Legal Affairs of the NDC.

The application averred that the High Court committed a non-jurisdictional error of law by failing to exercise its powers under Order 55 rule 5(2) of C.l 47 to direct the second to sixth interested parties to serve the mandamus applications on the applicants who had interests in the subject of dispute.

The application is also citing an apparent error of law on the face of the record which occasioned a substantial miscarriage of justice.

The High Court, presided over by Justice Rev. Fr Joseph Adu Owusu Agyemang, gave the mandamus orders after it upheld different mandamus applications filed by the respective New Patriotic Party (NPP) parliamentary candidates for the six constituencies.

Writer’s email: emma.hawkson@graphic.com.gh