BREAKING: Supreme Court quashes High Court ruling ordering EC to re-collate 4 seats won by NDC

Source: www.ghanaweb.com

The Supreme Court of Ghana has quashed the
ruling of the High Court which ordered the Electoral Commission of Ghana to re-collate and re-declare 4 parliamentary seats initially declared in favour of the NDC.

This is after the Supreme Court of Ghana heard an application by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) challenging the recent declaration and redeclaration of the parliamentary election results of 9 constituencies that were in dispute.

The NDC wanted the court to quash a ruling of a High Court which ordered the Electoral
Commission of Ghana (EC) to re-collate and re-declare the results of five constituencies, namely Okaikwei Central, Ablekuma North, Tema Central, Techiman South, and Obuasi East.

The NDC also wanted the order of the court for the EC to continue the collation of the parliamentary election results for the Nsawam-Adoagyiri and Ahafo Ano North constituency nullified.

They argued that the High Court judge who sat on the case refused to listen to their parliamentary candidates whom the ruling affected, which, according to them, violates the fundamental rule of law that a court cannot make a final decision which will adversely affect a person who the court did not allow to present his or her side of the story.

The five-member Supreme Court panel, chaired by Justice Gabriel Pwamang, overruled the order for the recollation of the constituencies that were ruled in favour of the NDC: Okaikwei Central,
Ablekuma North, Tema Central, and Techiman
South.

The court also ordered that the High Court,
presided by a different judge, should hear the matter again and allow the affected MP-elects to defend themselves on Tuesday, January 31, 2024.

The court, however, ruled that the order of the High Court for the continued collation of the results of the two constituencies – Nsawam Adoagyiri and Ahafo Ano North remains valid.

The other judges who sat on the case were Justice Prof. Henrietta Mensa-Bonsu, Justice Ernest Gaewu, Justice Henry Anthony Kwofie, and Justice Adjei Frimpong.

Background:
The Electoral Commission, on Friday, December 20, 2024, went ahead with the recount and continued collation of the parliamentary election results of 9
constituencies for the just-ended 2024 general election despite opposition by the NDC.

Before the re-collation and re-declaration exercise, the NDC claimed it had acquired a court order that barred the EC from going on with the declaration which had been properly served on the commission.

The party has held the position that the electoral laws of the country state that once election results are declared, the only way they can be challenged is in the courts.

After the exercises on Saturday, the ruling New Patriotic Party (NPP) candidates in seven of the constituencies whose processes were completed by the EC were declared winners. Four seats, which were initially declared for the NDC, namely Obuasi East, Okaikwei Central, Tema Central, and Techiman South, were re-declared in favour of the NPP.

The Obuasi East seat, which was initially declared for NDC’s Samuel Aboagye, was re-declared for NPP’s Patrick Boakye-Yiadom; the Tema Central seat, which was declared for NDC’s Ebi Bright, was re-declared for NPP’s Charles Forson.

Also the Techiman South seat was re-declared for NPP’s Martin Adjei-Mensah Korsah after it had been initially declared for Christopher Beyere Baasongti, and the Okaikwei Central seat was re-declared for NPP’s Dr. Patrick Boamah after it was initially declared for NDC’s Baba Sadig.

The Nsawam Adoagyiri, Ahafo Ano South West,
and Ahafo Ano North constituencies, which were initially incomplete, were also declared in favour of the NPP’s Frank Annoh-Dompreh, Eric Nana Agyeman-Prempeh, and Elvis Osei Mensah Dapaah, respectively.

Two constituencies – Ablekuma North and Dome Kwabenya – are, however, yet to be determined.

For the Ablekuma North Constituency, NDC’s
Ewurabena Aubynn was declared the winner of the constituency’s seat without the results of 62 polling stations.

NPP’s candidate for the constituency is Nana Akua Owusu Afriyieh, a former MP and the current Deputy Chief Executive of the Coastal Development Authority.

For Dome Kwabenya, NDC’s Elikplim Akurugu
declared the winner of the constituency’s seat, beating NPP’s Mike Oquaye Jnr.