By: Franklin ASARE-DONKOH
The National Democratic Congress (NDC) Parliamentary Candidate for Trobu, Mr. John Kofi Halm, has filed a suit at the Amasaman High Court in the Greater Accra region, challenging the Electoral Commission’s declaration of one Madam Gloria Owusu, who happens to be the 2024 New Patriotic Party’s (NPP) Parliamentary Candidate for Trobu Constituency, as the winner of the parliamentary election held on December 7, 2024.
The suit names the EC, Headquarters, the Trobu District Office of the electoral management body, and the Clerk of Parliament as the second, third, and fourth respondents, respectively.
According to the EC, Madam Owusu polled 43,789 votes to garner as the winner, defeating her close contender Mr. Kofi Halm, who garnered 35,147 votes.
Meanwhile, Nii Kpakpo Samoa Addo, Mr. Halm’s lawyer, urges the court to nullify the declared results, citing alleged irregularities and inconsistencies.
According to him, the discrepancies were identified in FORM 8A (Regulation 32 (7) and 39 (2) Statement of Polls for the Office of Member of Parliament, commonly referred to as the Pink Sheet).
These inconsistencies he explained affect 98 out of the 288 polling stations in the Trobu Constituency.
The legal proceedings are set to scrutinise the validity of the election results, with the NDC candidate seeking a declaration that the outcome is null and void.
“Parliamentary election held in the Trobu Constituency on 7th December 2024 was not conducted in compliance with Regulations 39 of the Public Elections Regulations, 2020 (C.I. 127) and the principles laid down by Regulations 39 and that the said non-compliance affected the results of the elections,” Halm’s lawyer added.
