Supreme Court to hear Amewu swearing-in case Monday

Ghana’s Supreme Court has said it will be hearing the legal arguments on whether or not MP-elect for Hohoe John Peter Amewu can be sworn in on Thursday, January 7.

The apex court took this decision on Wednesday, December 30.

The Attorney-General (AG) had dragged the Ho High Court to the Supreme Court for granting an injunction against the swearing-in of John Peter Amewu as the Member of Parliament for the Hohoe Constituency.

The AG wants the Supreme Court to quash the High Court’s order of injunction and also stop it from hearing the substantive matter brought against Mr. Amewu and the Electoral Commission for lack of jurisdiction.

The AG argues, in a suit, that the ruling from the Ho High Court “constituted a patent error” since it did not have the capacity to hear the matter.

“The High Court has no jurisdiction under Article 33 of the Constitution to entertain a matter in the nature of a parliamentary election petition and to grant any relief(s) interim, interlocutory or final, available in a parliamentary election commended under article 99 and section 16 of the Representation of the People’s Law, 1992 (PNDC 284).

“The proceedings of the court below and the orders emanating therefrom dated 23rd December, 2020 were void as same were in violation of article 99 of the Constitution,” the plaintiff noted in their application.

The Ho High Court on Wednesday, December 23, presided over by Justice George Buadi granted an interim injunction restraining the Commission from gazetting the New Patriotic Party’s candidate as the Member of Parliament (MP) for Hohoe.

This was after an ex-parte application by residents in the Guan District who were not given the opportunity to vote in parliamentary elections.