NDC to appeal High Court ruling upholding Annoh-Dompreh’s election as Nsawam-Adoagyiri MP
The National Democratic Congress (NDC) has vowed to appeal a High Court ruling that upheld the legitimacy of Frank Annoh-Dompreh as Member of Parliament for Nsawam-Adoagyiri, describing the judgment as a “total travesty of justice.”
The ruling, delivered on Thursday, April 10, by Justice Addae at the Koforidua High Court, dismissed a petition filed by the NDC challenging Annoh-Dompreh’s election.
The court upheld an application by the Director of Legal Affairs of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Gary Nimako Marfo, to dismiss the case.
The NDC maintains that the declaration of Mr Annoh-Dompreh as MP was flawed, citing discrepancies in the electoral process, including what it claims were inaccurate result sheets.
Speaking on Ghana Tonight on TV3, the NDC’s Deputy Director of Elections and IT, Dr Rashid Tanko-Computer, expressed the party’s deep dissatisfaction with the ruling and announced plans to file an appeal.
“This ruling is a total travesty of justice and we are not going to accept it. These are the things they do — allowing illegal people to parade themselves as MPs in Parliament,” Dr Tanko said.
Allegations of electoral irregularities
Dr Tanko alleged that during the 2024 parliamentary elections, the declaration of results in favour of Mr Annoh-Dompreh was based on photocopied — and not original — pink sheets, the official electoral results forms.
“I was at Teshie when the returning officer attempted to declare the results,” he recalled. “We pointed out that the pink sheets the NPP used were photocopies. These were not original documents. Yet, they went ahead to declare him the winner.”
Asked whether this evidence was submitted in court, Dr Tanko claimed that the party was not granted a fair hearing.
“The judge did not even allow us to go through the full process. The NPP filed a motion claiming there was no case to answer, and the court upheld it. We were denied the opportunity to scrutinise the process leading to the declaration of results,” he stated.
Respect for judiciary, but concerns remain
While criticising the ruling, Dr Tanko was careful to stress the NDC’s respect for the judiciary, though he raised concerns over the impartiality of some decisions.
“We are not bastardising the judiciary. We respect the courts. But this ruling, we believe, is fundamentally flawed. We’ve seen this before — in the Accra High Court case, where we challenged a flawed ruling and the Supreme Court quashed it. We will do the same here,” he said.
Legal appeal in motion
Dr Tanko revealed that the NDC’s legal team has been instructed to initiate an appeal process against the High Court’s decision.
“Our lawyers are working on the documents as we speak. We will use every legal means to get this so-called MP out of Parliament. The people of Nsawam voted for our candidate, Selom, not Annoh-Dompreh.”
He added that allowing the current outcome to stand could undermine public confidence in Ghana’s electoral system.
“If we allow this to pass, it sends the wrong message — that people can rig elections and get away with it. We are fighting to restore integrity to our electoral system.”
Similar battle in Ablekuma North
Turning his attention to another disputed constituency, Ablekuma North, Dr Tanko accused the Electoral Commission (EC) of attempting to declare the NPP candidate the winner without conducting a constitutionally mandated rerun in 62 polling stations.
“The EC claims they need police protection to declare the results — but protection for what? They don’t have the pink sheets. The NPP claims to have scanned copies. We stopped them once, and we’ll stop them again.”
The NDC has reportedly responded to the EC’s application at the Supreme Court and is preparing to challenge the Commission's actions in court.
No room for ‘illegal MPs’
Dr Tanko also reaffirmed the NDC’s commitment to challenging any MP they believe was not validly elected.
“We will make sure that no one who was not validly elected will remain in Parliament. Our party supporters should be assured — we are on top of the matter,” he said.
