I'm going full steam now – Zanetor

Dr Zanetor Rawlings has said she is going "full steam" now that the court has affirmed her eligibility as a registered voter.

"I think that we've proven that democracy does work and we've prove that the courts actually also work because … the people voted, they spoke, they chose, who they wanted and it would have been a real travesty of justice for the court to actually overturn the choice of the people.

"So, I'm very happy that we’ve actually come this far and now we are going full steam, the work goes on," the Klottey Korle parliamentary candidate of the governing National Democratic Congress (NDC) told journalists right after the court ruling on Friday January 15.

The three plaintiffs: Joseph Narku Botchway, Jacob Amin and Reverend Michael Kwabena Nii Adjei Sowah, who are all from the constituency, had prayed the court in their suit to declare Dr Rawlings' election null and void on grounds that she was not an eligible voter.

But the court said the plaintiffs did not demonstrate, with their arguments, how Dr Rawlings' election violates their rights.

The three, in their suit prayed the court for the following:

1. Whether or not Dr. Zanetor Agyeman-Rawlings is a registered voter.

2. If so, when was the name entered on the National Biometric Voters’ Register.

3. The name of the Registration Officer.

4. The date of registration.

5. The time on which the name was entered on the roll as shown on the print out.

6. The registration centre name.

7. The registration code.

8. The constituency within which the registration took place.

9. The Voter’s Identify Card number of Dr. Zanetor Agyeman-Rawlings.

10. Biometric finger print.

11. The type of identification document used in the registration process.

12. Copies of Form 1C that captured the data.

13. Copies of Voter Register Form 1A

14. Whether Dr. Zanetor Agyeman-Rawlings’ name has been publicly exhibited on any provisional Voters’ Register.

15. If so when?

16. Please furnish the Court with the said Voters’ Register.

17. If the registration was during the limited registration period in 2014, a copy of the voter registration identification guarantee form.

18. Copies of the registration team details Form 2A.

19. Please furnish the Court with the final Biometric Voters' Register showing Dr. Zanetor Agyeman-Rawlings' name.

Similar concerns about Dr Rawlings' eligibility had been expressed in the past by law firm Safo & Marfo @ Law, who wrote to the Electoral Commission seeking to ascertain whether Dr Zanetor Agyeman-Rawlings was a registered eligible voter in Ghana.

Dr Rawlings was elected as parliamentary candidate for the NDC on November 21 last year.

She beat incumbent Nii Armah Ashitey to the ticket for the 2016 elections.

Despite winning the primary, Dr Rawlings herself was unable to vote because her name could not be traced on the register of voters.

That development raised issues about her eligibility as a voter, since the party’s Greater Accra regional chairman, Ade Coker, said the non-existence of one’s name on the register meant that person was not a registered voter since, according to him, the source of the NDC’s register of voters was the national register of the Electoral Commission.

Safo & Marfo @ Law, therefore, wanted the EC to ascertain the electoral eligibility of former president Jerry John Rawlings’ daughter. The private law firm made the following demands:

"1. Whether or not Dr. Ezanator (Zanetor) Rawlings is a registered voter within the meaning of Article 94 (1)(a) of the 1992 Constitution of the Republic of Ghana."

"2. If so when was her name entered into the electoral register?"

The law firm also wanted a certified true copy of the voter’s register.

The search process initiated by Safo & Marfo came barely 24 hours after news broke of a suit against Dr Rawlings by ex-partner Herbert Mensah for custody over their two daughters.