NDC Amenfi Central PC Disqualification: The court has not ruled, EC too eager to disqualify - Kwaku Azar

Legal luminary, Prof Stephen Kwaku Asare, widely known as Kwaku Azar, has reacted to the disqualification of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) parliamentary candidate for the Amenfi Central Constituency in the Western Region by the Electoral Commission of Ghana (EC).

In a post shared on Facebook on October 16, 2024, Kwaku Azar indicated that the disqualification of the NDC parliamentary candidate was wrong.

He asserted that the High Court that placed an injunction on the parliamentary candidate is still hearing her case and has not ruled that she should be disqualified.

Kwaku Azar, a US-based Ghanaian lawyer and scholar, accused the EC of rushing to disqualify the parliamentary candidate.

“The Court has not disqualified the candidate, nor has it directed the EC to do so. The EC seems too eager to disqualify,” he wrote.

The Electoral Commission disqualified Joana Gyan Cudjoe citing an Order for Interlocutory Injunction issued by the High Court in Sekondi on May 31, 2024, in the case of Gyedu Frimpong & 4 Others vs. Joana Gyan Cudjoe, the NDC, and the Electoral Commission.

The court order restrains Joana Gyan Cudjoe from presenting herself as the duly elected NDC parliamentary candidate for Amenfi Central until the final determination of the matter.

It also restrains the NDC and the Electoral Commission from recognising or affording her any rights or privileges as the candidate.

About the case against Joana Gyan Cudjoe:

The High Court in Sekondi in the Western Region enjoined Joana Gyan Cudjoe from holding herself out as the parliamentary candidate-elect for the National Democratic Congress (NDC) at Amenfi Central on allegations that she forged her voter ID and NDC party card.

The order of the Court, presided over by Justice G. K. Gyan-Kontoh, also restrained the NDC (who is the second defendant) from allowing Joana Gyan Cudjoe to be held out, dealt with in any way, or recognised as the duly elected NDC parliamentary candidate for the Amenfi Central Constituency.

The order for an injunction, however, stated that the applicants shall file an undertaking to pay damages by way of compensation to the respondent if it turns out eventually that the applicants are, in fact, not entitled to the order of injunction so required.

The five applicants, Gyedu Frimpong, Akubilla Daniel, Enock Ntiamoh, Isaac Twum, and Doris Aidoo, sued Joana Cudjoe, the NDC, and the Electoral Commission as respondents.

The petition contended that to qualify for the NDC's national primary elections, Mrs Cudjoe must possess a valid national voter identification card, which they claim she obtained illegally.

It noted that the Voter ID she submitted contained 11 digits, deviating from the standard 10 digits required under the Public Elections Regulations.

Additionally, discrepancies were found between the voter ID numbers on her membership ID card (67610125841 and 67610125891); the voter ID number given to Joana Cudjoe is the voter ID for one Seidu Bala (6761012589) and one digit was added to the number (1).

The court went on to rule as follows:

"It is hereby ordered that until the final determination of the matter, the affected parties are restrained as follows:

“The 1st defendant/respondent is holding herself out as the duly elected NDC parliamentary candidate for the Amenfi Central Constituency.

"The 2nd and 3rd defendants/respondents, their agents, and officers from holding out, allowing the 1st Defendant/Respondent to be held out, dealt with in any way, recognised, or afforded any rights or privileges as the duly elected NDC parliamentary candidate for the Amenfi Central Constituency," the court said.

"It is further ordered that the applicants shall file an undertaking to pay damages by way of compensation to the respondent if it turns out eventually that the applicants are, in fact, not entitled to the order of injunction so required."

BAI/AE

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