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New Patriotic Party (NPP) flagbearer hopeful, Dr. Mahamudu Bawumia, has criticised the National Democratic Congress (NDC) government over what he describes as “indecent haste” in handling the Kpandai parliamentary case, warning that the rushed approach threatens Ghana’s democratic foundation.
His comments follow the Electoral Commission’s decision to conduct a rerun of the Kpandai parliamentary election on December 30, after Parliament declared the seat vacant in compliance with a High Court ruling that annulled the earlier results.
Dr. Bawumia argued that the situation involving former MP and NPP candidate Matthew Nyindam is not unprecedented, yet government and state institutions appear to be treating it differently from similar past cases.
He cited the cases of Dan Abodakpi and Gyakye Quayson, noting that Parliament and other bodies allowed all court processes to conclude before taking action. “Why the rush now?” he questioned.
According to Dr. Bawumia, Matthew Nyindam has already filed both an appeal and a judicial review, which remain pending. He warned that going ahead with the rerun despite these pending legal processes would amount to “railroading” Nyindam and undermining the integrity of Ghana’s justice system.
“I think this undermines our institutions of democracy,” he remarked. “We should take a halt to these processes and allow him to have his day in court, just as others have been allowed in the past.”
He further criticised what he described as an abrupt departure from parliamentary precedent, stressing that the House “has never rushed in this way” in similar electoral disputes.
Dr. Bawumia urged state institutions to act with fairness, cautioning that Ghana’s democracy can only thrive when the rules are applied consistently and impartially.
