Seek clarity from SC; filing contempt not advisable – Lecturer

A contempt suit against Ghana’s Electoral Commission (EC) for failing to carry out a recent Supreme Court ruling will not be advisable, Dr Poku Adusei, a lecturer at the University of Ghana, has said.

Ghana’s highest court on May 5, 2016, ordered the EC to strike out from the electoral roll, names of persons who registered with National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS) cards as voters in 2012, having ruled earlier in 2014 that that means of identification could not be used for such purpose as it was not a reliable evidence of citizenship. It further asked the election management body to remove the names of aliens, minors, and deceased persons.

But the EC released a statement dated May 19, 2016, stating that it would not be taking out the names of NHIS card registrants, prompting former People’s National Convention (PNC) Youth Organiser Abu Ramadan to threaten to go back to the Supreme Court and sue the seven commissioners of the EC for contempt.

Dr Adusei has, however, counselled Mr Ramadan to seek a different relief from the court. Speaking on The Big Issue on Citi FM Saturday May 21, the lecturer said: “Well, if I am advising him, he won’t go for contempt; it’s too early to go for contempt. …The standard of proof, because it’s a quasi-criminal issue, is very high. …It’s equivalent to prove beyond reasonable doubt…, so, you don’t think that going to convict the seven commission members is what will be the answer”.

“If I am the one advising him, a quick application for the court to state what [it] actually said in [its] judgement [will be appropriate].”

In his view, given the several interpretations given to the judgement, the EC can swerve a conviction for contempt by claiming to have understood the ruling differently. He added that the Supreme Court would likely buy into such defence, believing that the commissioners “were actually acting in good faith” except that “they didn’t understand” the court’s orders.

He counselled Mr Ramadan and others bent on suing the EC to “go for the court to clarify whatever they stated. I believe in their own hearts and minds, the judges, they know what they meant in this judgement, they know. So, they will tell you…”

He said the response of the Supreme Court to such application would be “a day’s matter” and save time, as he expects that the justices will settle issues promptly, not needing to even retire to their chambers to consider their ruling.