Ebi Bright loses Tema Central seat, as EC declares NPP’s Charles Forson winner

The parliamentary candidate of the New Patriotic Party (NPP) for the Tema Central Constituency in the Greater Accra Region, Charles Forson, has been declared the Member of Parliament-elect for the area.

The Tema Central Constituency was one of four constituencies in the Greater Accra Region whose declaration was nullified by the Electoral Commission of Ghana.

According to the declaration that was done at the EC's Greater Accra Regional office on Saturday, December 21, 2024, Charles Forson pulled over 15,800 votes and Ebi Bright over 15,400.

EC officials for Tema Central had initially declared NDC’s Ebi Bright the winner of the parliamentary election at the constituency’s collation centre.

However, the Chairperson of the EC, Jean Mensa, explained that the Tema Central declaration could not stand because its official was forced to do so.

“In Tema Central, the DEO again was threatened, and he was forced to declare results using 146 polling stations instead of 148. The Commission would not uphold that declaration,” she said at a press conference on December 19, 2024.

The NDC sued the Electoral Commission (EC) over the re-collation of five constituencies where their parliamentary candidates had earlier been declared winners, including the Obuasi East Constituency.

The action filed on Monday, December 16, 2024, is seeking an order of judicial review in the nature of declaration, certiorari, prohibition, and injunction.

Per the action, the NDC, which is the 1st Applicant, contends that declarations made in the December 7 elections in favour of Faustina Elikplim Akurugu (Dome Kwabenya), Baba Sadiq (Okaikwei Central), Ewurabena Aubynn (Ablekuma North), Ebi Bright (Tema Central), and Samuel Aboagye (Obuasi East), 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, and 6th applicants, cannot be re-collated and re-declared.

The NDC again submitted that the EC, following their earlier declarations, “has become functus officio and therefore cannot re-collate, recount, and re-declare the results of the already declared election results in the stated constituencies.”

The party was also seeking an order prohibiting the respondent from re-collating, re-counting, and re-declaring the already collated and declared parliamentary election results in the Dome Kwabenya, Okaikwei Central, Ablekuma North, Tema Central, and Obuasi East constituencies.

However, the High Court threw out the application and ordered the EC to re-collate and re-declare the results of the 5 constituencies.

BAI/OGB

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Watch as Jean Mensa addresses issues with 9 constituencies whose results are yet to be declared