Here's why the Supreme Court cancelled Kpandai 'by-election'

The Supreme Court of Ghana, by a 4:1 majority decision, quashed an order of the Tamale High Court for a rerun of the 2024 parliamentary election for the Kpandai Constituency in the Oti Region, in which the New Patriotic Party’s Mathew Nyindam was declared winner.

The ruling of the court, which effectively cancelled a by-election announced by the Electoral Commission of Ghana (EC), was on an application filed by Mathew Nyindam, challenging the order of the High Court.

What the plaintiff was seeking:

On December 1, 2025, Mathew Nyindam filed the application at the Supreme Court to overturn a High Court ruling in Tamale that annulled his victory in the 2024 parliamentary election.

His lawyer, Gary Nimako Marfo, argued that the High Court, Commercial Division in Tamale, wrongfully assumed jurisdiction over the petition filed by NDC candidate Daniel Nsala Wakpal.

"The Parliamentary Election Petition filed by the 1st Interested Party on 25th January 2025... was invalid and could not have properly invoked the jurisdiction of the High Court, Commercial Division, Tamale," he said in an interview in 2025.

He also argued that the election petition of the petitioner, Nsala Wakpal, was brought in breach of the timelines for the filing of an election petition.

About the High Court:

The Tamale High Court, presided over by Justice Emmanuel Bart-Plange Brew, annulled the 2024 parliamentary election results for Kpandai and ordered a fresh poll within 30 days, following a successful legal challenge.

The petition was filed by the NDC candidate, Daniel Nsala Wakpal, who alleged that the December 7, 2024, election was marred by serious irregularities and should be rerun.

The petition was filed on January 25, 2025, by Wakpal, who claimed that there were inconsistencies in Form 8A (the "pink sheet") from 41 polling stations out of 152, arguing that these breaches violated Regulations 39 and 43 of the Public Elections Regulations (CI 127).

NPP retains seat as Supreme Court cancels Kpandai rerun order

The defendant, Mathew Nyindam, through his lawyers, argued that the election petition was filed after the constitutionally mandated 21-day deadline following the declaration of the results, since the petition was filed on January 25, 2025, about 30 days after the results were gazetted on December 24, 2024.

They also argued that even if something were done about the election, it should only be in the 41 polling stations cited.

The High Court judge sided with the NDC parliamentary candidate and ruled that the election should be rerun.

In the December 2024 parliamentary election, Nyindam, representing the New Patriotic Party, secured 27,947 votes (53.47%), defeating Daniel Nsala Wakpal of the National Democratic Congress, who obtained 24,213 votes (46.33%).

What the law on election petition says:

Sections 16, 17 and 18 of the Representation of the People Law, 1992, PNDCL 284, touch on parliamentary election petitions.

Section 16 says, “(1) The validity of an election to Parliament may be questioned only by a petition brought under this Part. (2) Every election petition shall be presented before the High Court for hearing.”

Section 17 lists the persons who can take part in an election petition.

It says that “An election petition may be presented by one or more of the following persons—

(a) a person who lawfully voted or had a right to vote at the election to which the petition relates;

(b) a person claiming to have had a right to be elected at the election;

(c) a person alleging himself to have been a candidate at the election;

(d) a person claiming to have had a right to be nominated as a candidate at the election.”

The deadline for the filing of a parliamentary election petition is captured in Section 18 of PNDCL 284. It states that these petitions are valid if they are filed within 21 days of the gazetting of the election results.

Read the exact words of the law below:

“(1) An election petition shall be presented within twenty-one days after the date of the publication in the Gazette of the result of the election to which it relates, except that a petition questioning an election on an allegation of corrupt practice and specifically alleging a payment of money or other award to have been made by the person whose election is questioned or to have been made on his behalf to his knowledge, may be presented within twenty-one days after the date of the alleged payment.

(2) The presentation of an election petition under subsection (1) shall not be valid unless, within the time specified in subsection (1), the petitioner gives C20,000 as security for costs.

(3) The time limit provided by this section for the presentation of an election petition shall not be extended.”

BAI/MA

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