High Court throws out NDC’s election petition against Techiman South Parliamentary seat

The Techiman High Court has dismissed a parliamentary petition filed by Christopher Beyere Baasongti, the National Democratic Congress (NDC) parliamentary candidate for the 2024 election, against Martin Adjei-Mensah Korsah, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) Member of Parliament for Techiman South.

The Electoral Commission (EC) published the Techiman South constituency election results in its gazette on January 7, 2025. In response, Christopher Beyere Baasongti filed his parliamentary election petition on January 27, 2025.

However, on January 31, 2025, Martin Adjei-Mensah Korsah, through his lawyer, Gary Nimako Marfo, challenged the petition’s legality. He argued that the petitioner had failed to provide security for costs within the required timeframe. According to him, no application was made to determine the required security amount within the legally allotted 21 days between the gazette notification and the petition filing.

Based on this, Adjei-Mensah Korsah requested the High Court to dismiss the petition, asserting that the failure to meet this legal requirement rendered the case invalid. He formally filed this motion on February 17, 2025.

In its ruling, the High Court upheld Korsah’s argument and dismissed the petition. The court declared that Christopher Beyere Baasongti’s case was void since he did not apply for security for costs within the legally mandated timeframe, as required under Section 18(2) of the Representation of the People Law, 1992 (PNDCL 284).

Martin Adjei-Mensah Korsah was represented in court by the NPP’s Director of Legal Affairs, Gary Nimako Marfo, while Christopher Beyere Baasongti was represented by lawyer Abdul-Hameed Zakaria.