Voters' register case: Justice Dotse recuses himself

One of the seven-member Supreme court panel that ruled on the controversy regarding the voters register, Justice Jones Dotse, has recused himself from the case.

The respected judge recused himself Thursday as the complainant Abu Ramadan went back to court seeking a clearer interpretation of the judgement following an interpretation confusion that has trailed the judgment.

It is unclear why the judge has taken the decision but it will be recalled that Justice Dotse after the judgement told the media in a rare interview that the directive by the court to the EC to delete names of NHIS card registrants from the register was clear and unambiguous.

“We said the use of the NHIS cards is therefore unconstitutional and it (EC) should take the opportunity to clean the register of those undesirable persons.

“We also do not want to disenfranchise anybody so the Supreme Court went on to say that anybody who will be affected by that exercise should be given the opportunity to register according to the law and the constitution, period,” he said.

The comments by the judge sparked controversy as many disagreed and agreed with his explanation in equal measure. Some lawyers however criticised him for the commentary.

Meanwhile, another member of the panel Joseph Acamba cannot sit on the matter again because he is on retirement.