By: Franklin ASARE-DONKOH
The opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) has dragged Ghana’s electoral management body, the Electoral Commission (EC), to court over recollating results in five constituencies which have already been declared after the end of the just-ended parliamentary election.
The lawsuit aims to block EC from re-collating and redeclaring the parliamentary results for the following constituencies: the Dome-Kwabenya, Okaikwei Central, Ablekuma North, Tema Central, and Obuasi East constituencies.
The NDC argues that the EC no longer has the authority to conduct these processes.
This legal action follows ongoing disputes and tensions over the initial collation of parliamentary results.
The EC had earlier indicated that the declaration of parliamentary results for Dome-Kwabenya, Okaikwei Central, Ablekuma North, and Tema Central are invalid, citing procedural irregularities.
During a press briefing on Friday, December 13, 2024, a Deputy Commissioner of EC in charge of Operations, Mr. Samuel Tettey, explained that the results could not be upheld because they did not adhere to the procedures outlined in CI 127, despite police presence at the collation centres to ensure the re-collation process.
In its notice of motion, the NDC, along with five other applicants, is seeking a declaration that the EC, having already declared the results for these constituencies with the NDC candidates as winners, has become “functus officio” and is therefore prohibited from recollating, recounting, or redeclaring the results.
The applicants in the case include Faustina Elikplim Akurugu, Baba Sadiq, Ewurabena Aubynn, Ebi Bright, and Samuel Aboagye.
The applicants are seeking an “order prohibiting the respondent from re-collating, re-counting and re-declaring the already collated and declared parliamentary election results in the Dome-Kwabenya, Okaikwei Central, Ablekuma North, and Tema Central constituencies.
A declaration that by virtue of Article 99 of the 1992 constitution of the Republic of Ghana and section 16 of PNDCL 284, it is the High Court of Ghana that has the exclusive original jurisdiction to invalidate the declaration of parliamentary election results and not the respondent.”
