Abu Ramadan withdraws suit against EC

A former National Youth Organiser of the People’s National Convention (PNC), Mr Abu Ramadan, has withdrawn a suit he filed against the Electoral Commission (EC) which sought to challenge the credibility of the 2012 voters register.

Mr Ramadan and another, Mr Evans Nimako, had prayed the Supreme Court to set aside the register and compel the EC to compile a fresh register before any new public election or referendum is conducted in Ghana.

In the writ invoking the jurisdiction of the court, the plaintiffs had prayed the court to enforce the provisions of the 1992 Constitution and a declaration that on a true and proper interpretation of Articles 45 (a) and 42, the 2012 voters register had in it “names of persons who failed to establish constitutional qualification to be registered as voters”.
Joined to the suit was the Attorney-General (A-G).

Reason

Lead counsel for the plaintiffs, Nana Asante Bediatuo , told the court at its sitting yesterday that the withdrawal was to enable his team to amend the existing suit, as they had received additional information from the EC.

The seven-member panel, chaired by the Chief Justice, Mrs Justice Georgina Theodora Wood, granted the application, agreeing that the option would simplify the process.

Action

The plaintiffs went to the court in December last year, demanding that the 2012 voters register be declared null and void.

They asserted that the Supreme Court’s ruling in July 2014 that the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) card was an illegal form of identification for voters’ registration gave further credence to their case.

However, at yesterday’s sitting, the court was forced to strike out the suit, giving the plaintiff’s liberty to refile.

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Old reliefs

The plaintiffs were seeking a declaration that upon a true and proper interpretation of Article 45 (a) of the Constitution of the Republic of Ghana, 1992, the mandate of the EC to compile the register of voters implied a duty to compile a fair and transparent register.

They also sought a declaration that the 2012 voters register, which contains the names of persons who had not established qualification to be registered, was inconsistent with Articles 42 and 45 (a) and, therefore, unconstitutional, null, void and of no effect.