‘EC is wrong’ — Samson Lardy Anyenini on disqualification of Amenfi Central NDC parliamentary candidate

Private legal practitioner Samson Lardy Anyenini has criticized the Electoral Commission (EC) for its decision to disqualify Joana Gyan Cudjoe, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) parliamentary candidate for Amenfi Central.

Speaking on PM Express, a program on Accra-based Joy News, on Wednesday, October 16, Lardi Anyenini described the EC’s decision as legally flawed and “ill-advised.”

At the heart of the issue is an interlocutory injunction issued by the High Court in May 2024, which prevented Joana Cudjoe from holding herself as the duly elected candidate after the NDC primary election earlier that year.

However, according to Anyenini, the injunction applied only to the May 2023 election, which the NDC leadership subsequently annulled in September 2024.

A fresh primary was held on September 8, 2024, where Cudjoe was again elected as the parliamentary candidate, with the EC itself supervising the election and declaring her the winner.

The legal practitioner found the EC’s decision to disqualify Joana Gyan based on an injunction tied to the annulled election puzzling and legally unsound.

“An interlocutory injunction is not a final order of a court. It does not determine the rights of the parties. The fact that it restrains certain actions temporarily doesn’t mean the affected parties will not emerge victorious at the end of the case,” he explained.

He argued that the injunction in question no longer had legal relevance to the fresh election held in September.

“The EC supervised the fresh election on September 8, 2024, and declared her duly elected. How then does the EC turn around and disqualify her over a case that no longer exists?” he questioned.

He described the EC’s decision as “absurd” and “ill-advised,” urging the Commission to reconsider its stance.

“The injunction related to the May 2023 election, which has been annulled. The fresh election in September 2024 has no injunction against it. The EC has overreached and acted unlawfully,” he stated.

Background of the Disqualification
The Electoral Commission, in a letter dated October 10, 2024, announced that Joana Gyan Cudjoe had been disqualified from contesting in the 2024 general elections.

The decision was based on the High Court injunction obtained by Gyedu Frimpong and four others following the contested May 2023 NDC primary election.

According to the EC, this injunction had not been vacated, meaning the Commission was still bound by the court’s ruling to disqualify her.

“The said Order has neither been stayed nor vacated, hence the Commission is bound by the same,” the EC’s Deputy Chairman of Operations, Samuel Tettey, explained in the letter.

This decision has sparked significant backlash from the NDC leadership in Amenfi Central, who have accused the EC of acting in bad faith.

At a press conference on October 15, the party leadership alleged that the EC was collaborating with the New Patriotic Party (NPP) to undermine their candidate’s chances in the 2024 elections.

“We are reliably informed that Dr. Bossman Asare and Fuseini Adonis Kweku, in concert with the NPP, are planning a diabolical means of disqualifying our candidate from contesting the upcoming parliamentary elections,” the NDC’s statement read.

They also warned of potential unrest in the constituency, stating, “Should they carry through this their diabolical plans, there will be no elections in Amenfi Central.”