People of SALL should have voted in Buem Constituency – Deputy-AG

A Deputy Attorney-General, Mr Godfred Yeboah  Dame, has argued before the Supreme Court that the people of Santrokofi Akpafu, Likpe, and Lolobi, (SALL) should have been allowed to vote in the parliamentary election on December 7, 2020.

He contended that the right constituency for the people of SALL to cast their vote was the Buem Constituency in the Oti Region and not the Hohoe Constituency in the Volta Region.

Hohoe: Supreme Court quashes Ho High Court order against Amewu

The Deputy A-G was moving an application urging the Supreme Court to quash an injunction by the Ho High Court on the gazetting of Mr John Peter Amewu as the Member of Parliament (MP)-elect for Hohoe.

According to him, it was “erroneous” for the Electoral Commission (EC) to have prevented the people of SALL from voting in the parliamentary election that took place on December 7,2020.

He argued that a new constitutional instrument CI 128 which came into force on August 11, 2020 placed SALL under the Buem constituency.

“If anything, the election in Buem should rather be annulled for the people of SALL to vote and not the Hohoe Constituency,” he argued.

Tsikata’s argument

In response, lawyer for five individuals who got the injunction, Mr Tsatsu Tsikata, argued that the admission by the A-G meant that the people of SALL were indeed denied the right to vote and also the right to be represented in parliament.

He submitted that CI 128 which placed SALL in the Buem constituency was unconstitutional because it was not gazetted on the day it was laid before parliament as required by the 1992 constitution.

Background

The people of SALL did not partake in the December 7, 2020 parliamentary election but only voted in the Presidential election.

This followed an announcement by the EC on December 6, 2020.

SALL which used to be part of the Volta Region was carved out and became part of the new formed Oti Region.

After the election, five individuals led by the NDC Parliamentary Candidate for Hohoe, Prof Margaret Kweku, sent a human rights application to the Ho High Court.

On December 23, 2020, the Ho High Court, presided over by Justice George Buadi, placed an injunction on the gazetting of the NPP MP-elect for Hohoe, Mr John Peter Amewu.

It is this injunction and the entire proceedings that the High Court that the A-G wants the Supreme Court to quash.

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