The National Democratic Congress‘ (NDC) upcoming primaries scheduled for May 13, will not be supervised by the Electoral Commission (EC) until all legal issues are resolved.
The EC revealed that proceeding with the primaries would be a contempt of court, disrespecting the judiciary. This decision was announced on May 10 after the EC met with representatives of all three NDC flagbearer hopefuls.
The Commission received an Application for Interlocutory Injunction seeking to prevent it from supervising the primaries due to alleged register anomalies. To avoid being cited for contempt, the EC has decided not to oversee the primaries until the court case is resolved.
“However, yesterday we were served with an Application for Interlocutory Injunction seeking to restrain the Commission from supervising the conduct of the Presidential and Parliamentary Primaries due to the alleged anomalies with the register”.
“Gentlemen, in order that we are not cited for contempt, the Commission has taken the decision not to supervise the conduct of the Presidential and Parliamentary elections until after the determination of the case by the court,” said Madam Jean Mensa, the Chairperson of the Commission.
The EC will not Supervise NDC Primaries over Mysterious Discrepancies in Voter Register
Dr. Kwabena Duffour, a presidential primary aspirant, has filed a lawsuit against the party after identifying discrepancies in the voter register intended for use in the upcoming elections.
In a writ filed with the Accra High Court on Tuesday, he claimed that the party did not provide the required photo album register five weeks prior to the elections, as outlined by party rules. He further noted that his team received only a partial photo album register on May 4, just a few days before the election, rather than in March, when they had submitted a request for one.
According to him, his representatives discovered that the number of constituencies on the hard drive provided to them was 220, instead of the 228 constituencies indicated by the defendant.
Dr. Duffour, in his complaint, has stated that a preliminary check of the 220 constituencies on the hard drive provided by the defendant to his representatives revealed fundamental inconsistencies and errors, which make the Photo Album Register inaccurate and unsuitable for a fair, just, and reliable election.
The NDC Remains Unmoved
Despite his request to postpone the elections until a full photo album register is obtained, the party has not complied with his request.
Consequently, he is seeking an interlocutory injunction to prevent the party and sued individuals, such as the General Secretary, Election Director, co-contestants John Mahama and Kojo Bonsu, and the Electoral Commission from holding the elections scheduled for May 13th.
The Electoral Commission has stated that if this case is not addressed, it will be unable to conduct the presidential primaries for the main opposition party.
