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 Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings leaving the court with his lawyer Ace Ankomah
 Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings leaving the court with his lawyer Ace Ankomah

Nana Konadu drags EC to court again after losing earlier suit

The  Flag bearer of the National Democratic Party (NDP), Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings, has again dragged the Electoral Commission (EC) to court barely four hours after her first suit challenging her disqualification from the December polls was struck out by the Accra High Court.

The court, presided over by Mr Justice George K. Koomson, had earlier yesterday described Nana Konadu’s suit as “incompetent” and dismissed it on procedural grounds.

It held that it was wrong for the presidential aspirant to seek judicial review of the EC’s decision to disqualify her and also an enforcement of her fundamental human rights in one writ.

But the former First Lady filed a fresh application at the Human Rights Division of the Accra High Court seeking an enforcement of her fundamental human rights.

The writ, which will be moved by her legal team on November 1, 2016, has the NDP, the former First Lady and her running mate, Mr Kodjo Mensah Sosuh as applicants with the EC and the Attorney-General as the respondents.

Earlier setback

The dismissal of Nana Konadu’s first legal action followed certain preliminary objections raised by the EC which prayed the court to throw out the suit because it was not in tandem with the rules of court.

Apart from dismissing the application, the court further ordered Nana Konadu to pay a fine of GH¢10, 000 to the EC.

According to the court, the presidential aspirant and her political party failed to follow the laid-down rules of practice and procedure in initiating the action.

In the ruling which upheld the objection on the procedure used by the NDP, the court was of the view that the procedure and rules governing the application for judicial review and an enforcement of fundamental human rights were different.

“It is very clear that from the rules that the procedure for the two are not the same and, therefore, putting the two actions together will pose inconvenience, delay and the non –compliance of some of the rules.

“The application for judicial review and the enforcement of fundamental human rights is hereby struck out as incompetent,’’ the presiding judge held.

The court, however, held that Nana Konadu could initiate a fresh suit if she wanted to do so.

“The door is still open so you can do the right thing,’’ the presiding judge said.

Reliefs

In her new writ, Nana Konadu is seeking a declaration that the decision of the EC to close the nomination of presidential candidates on September 30, 2016 and “not October 10, 2016 when deposits of nomination/filing fees were received was a breach of her rights under Article 23 of the 1992 Constitution.’’

She also wants a declaration from the court that pursuant to regulation 9 of CI 94, the EC should have informed and afforded her the opportunity to “make the necessary amendments or alterations “ when it determined that “the particulars of a person subscribing to her nomination forms were not required by law’’.

The presidential aspirant, therefore, wants an order from the court to “compel the EC to accept her nomination forms and to include her name on the ballot for the 2016 presidential elections.’’

Numerous suits

The former First Lady’s action against the EC is one of the various cases that the electoral body is battling after it disqualified 12 presidential aspirants in the December polls.

Other suits challenging the EC’s decision to disqualify some of the aspirants because of its claim that they breached electoral laws include those of Dr Papa Kwesi Nduom of the Progressive People’s Party and Mr Hassan Ayariga of the All People’s Congress. 

 

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