The Koforidua High Court has dismissed an election petition filed by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) parliamentary candidate for Suhum, Prince Addo and the former Member of Parliament for the area, Oboafo Kwadwo Asante, challenging the election of Frank Asiedu Bekoe, popularly known as Protozoa, as Member of Parliament for the constituency.
In its ruling, the court, presided over by Justice George Krofa Addae, held that the petition failed to establish sufficient grounds to overturn the declaration made by the Electoral Commission.
He explained that the petitioner did not provide compelling evidence of alleged irregularities that could affect the outcome of the parliamentary election.
He said the claims raised by Prince Addo were either unsubstantiated or did not meet the legal threshold under Ghana’s electoral laws.
The judge described the petition as lacking merit and consequently dismissed it in its entirety.
Reactions
Reacting to the ruling, lawyers for Mr Bekoe welcomed the decision, saying it had affirmed the will of the people of Suhum as expressed at the 2024 general election.
They indicated that the judgment reinforced confidence in the electoral process and urged all parties to respect the outcome and work together for the development of the constituency.
Context
Following the declaration of the December 2024 Suhum parliamentary election results, the petitioners asked the court to invalidate the outcome of the Suhum Constituency results, citing alleged electoral infractions.
The petitioners in the case are the former Suhum NPP MP, who contested as an independent candidate in 2024, Kwadwo Asante and the National Democratic Congress (NDC) candidate, Prince Kwadwo Addo.
They went to court to seek relief to declare the election in that constituency null and void and to order a re-run in the affected polling stations.
The court also awarded GHc200,000 in costs against the petitioners.
