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27.02.2015 Social News

Suspend District Level Elections - Supreme Court

By GNA
Suspend District Level Elections - Supreme Court
27.02.2015 LISTEN

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Accra, Feb. 27, GNA - A seven-member panel of the Supreme Court, on Friday, declared the already scheduled March 3 District Assembly elections unconstitutional.

The Court has, therefore, ordered the Electoral Commission (EC) to start all over again CI 85; a legal instrument which seeks to demarcate electoral boundaries for the district elections in 2015.

The judges unanimously ruled that the EC must reopen nominations.

The panel, which was chaired by Mr Justice William Atuguba, included Justice Anim Yeboah, Justice Paul Baffoe Bonnie, Justice Sophia Akuffo, Justice Jones Dotse, Justice Julius Ansah, and Justice Sulley Gbadegbe.

This comes after one Benjamin Eyi Mensah, a fisherman, aspiring to become the assemblyman for the Eyipeh Electoral Area within the Effutu District of the Central Region, dragged the Electoral Commission to court over the electoral body's refusal to register him as an aspirant for the District Assembly and Unit Committee Elections.

He was disqualified based on the late submission of his nomination forms.

Counsel for the aspirant,   Mr Alex Afenyo-Markin said all attempts to get the EC to register his client for the local elections was met with opposition thus his decision to resort to the Court for redress.

The District Electoral Officer and the Returning Officer reportedly refused to accept Mr Mensah's forms when he submitted them on Monday December 22, 2014, a day after the filing of nominations officially closed.

However, Mr Mensah's Lawyer, in a letter written to the EC, said the Commission's decision to open and close nominations at the said date was inconsistent with, and in contravention of Article 45(b) and 51 of the 1992 Constitution.

He stated that the EC's decision was 'not fortified by law.'

In his writ of summon, Mr Mensah prayed the highest Court of the land to 'order the Electoral Commission to [re] open nominations to enable the Plaintiff and other law abiding citizens to file their nomination forms to participate in the upcoming District Assembly Elections.'

He argued that CI 85, which is still in Parliament had not become a law.

'You cannot open nominations when the electoral areas remain a proposal and haven't gone through the electoral process to become law,' Afenyo Markin maintained.

Counsel for the Electoral Commission, James Quarshie Idun earlier said he Electoral Commission per section 11 of PNDC law 284 B was allowed to go ahead with the election without relying on CI 85, but the judges were not fully convinced.

The court had earlier directed the EC to stop running adverts on the elections while the case was in court.

GNA

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