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The Supreme Court has overturned re-collated parliamentary election results for Okaikwei Central, Ablekuma North, Tema Central, and Techiman South, invalidating the Electoral Commission’s (EC) declarations for these constituencies.
The ruling, delivered amidst heated legal and political disputes, also upheld the re-collated results for Nsawam Adoagyiri and Ahafo Ano North, leaving them unchanged.
This judgment stems from a legal challenge by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) against a December 20 High Court order directing the EC to re-collate results in nine contested constituencies. The EC had completed re-collation in seven of the constituencies, all won by New Patriotic Party (NPP) candidates, with results for Dome/Kwabenya and Ablekuma North still unresolved.
The NDC criticized the re-collation process as unconstitutional and flawed, arguing that the High Court’s directive undermined electoral transparency and fairness.
Presiding judge Justice Gabriel Pwamang noted that the High Court violated the rights of the NDC parliamentary candidates to a fair hearing. The court, exercising its discretionary power, annulled the orders for re-collation in the four constituencies.
Justice Pwamang stated, “We hereby quash the orders of mandamus made for the collation of results by the EC in the following constituencies: Okaikwei Central, Ablekuma North, Tema Central, and Techiman South.”
The annulment challenges the EC’s controversial re-collation process and underscores the judiciary’s crucial role in addressing electoral irregularities.
The Supreme Court clarified that the mandamus application remains active and is set to be heard by the High Court on Tuesday, December 31. This ruling marks a significant development in Ghana’s electoral landscape.
