The Electoral Commission (EC) has been ordered by the High Court in Accra to proceed with the collation and subsequent declaration of the results of the just-ended parliamentary election in the Nsawam Adoagyiri Constituency of the Eastern region.
The Court presided over by Justice Rev. Joseph Adu-Owusu Agyeman on Friday, December 20, also ordered the Inspector General of Police (IGP) to provide adequate security to the EC at the collation centre.
Six New Patriotic Party (NPP) parliamentary candidates in the 2024 elections applied for a judicial review in the form of a Mandamus, urging the High Court to compel the Electoral Commission (EC) to collate and declare parliamentary results in their respective constituencies and compel the IGP to ensure adequate security at collation centres to enable the EC to carry out its constitutional duties without further disruptions.
These candidates represented the NPP in Tema Central, Nsawam-Adoagyiri, Okaikwei Central, Techiman South, Ablekuma North, and Ahafo Ano North.
The legal team of the EC, led by Justine Amenuvor, said the Commission had been served with the application but chose not to oppose it.
Meanwhile, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) sought to join the case through a motion for joinder.
However, the Court declined the request, ruling that the NDC did not have sufficient grounds to be included in the matter.
Nsawam-Adoagyir is one of the nine disputed constituencies listed by the EC.
According to the Commission, the collation centre for the constituency was besieged by hundreds of party supporters who violently obstructed the collation process and brought it to a halt.
It said two ballot boxes and one BVD were destroyed in the process, while results for 100 out of 203 polling stations were collated before the mayhem. However, results could not be declared because the process could not be completed.
The EC had said that an attempt to complete the process was made on Thursday, December 12th, 2024. It however noted that after results from 143 polling stations were collated, political parties agreed to pause the process until the following day, but that did not occur.
While the EC has been asked by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) to allow persons in disagreement with the declarations in some nine constituencies to go to court as the law stipulates, the Commission insists the laid down processes for the collation and declaration were inconclusive, and therefore it is mandated to complete those processes.
At a news conference on Thursday, December 19, the EC justified its decision and appealed to the government to offer it maximum security to complete the process.
Source: Richard Nana Appiah Kubi/Ahotoronline.com
