Court rules October 3 on petition against NPP presidential primary

The Accra Fast Track High Court will on October 3, 2014, rule on whether or not to entertain an application for an injunction on the New Patriotic Party’s October 18, 2014 congress to elect a flagbearer.

The court, presided over by Justice Mustapha Habib Logoh, fixed the date Friday after hearing arguments from counsel for the applicants and defendants on the motion on notice for an order to restrain the NPP from holding the presidential primaries on October 18.

Messrs Rexford Agyei Frimpong and Oppong Kyekyeku, the applicants, led by lead counsel Eric Kwame Atieku had contended that per the NPP’s constitution, the party required six clear months between the date of issuance of the notice to hold elections for the presidential primary and the actual date of the election.

Counsel said that while the party intends to hold the presidential primary on October 18, 2014, it issued the required notice on June 6, 2014, which period does not meet the party’s constitutional requirement.

Eric Atieku told the court that while the NPP had internal mechanisms for resolving disputes, “it lies foul in the mouth of the defendants” to say that the applicants had not exhausted the processes before going to court.

He said his clients had, per a letter dated July 8, 2014, petitioned the party through the national chairman but which had come to nothing because the petition never got a hearing.

Counsel said the accusation that his clients had failed to exhaust the party’s internal dispute resolution mechanisms did not preclude them from seeking justice in court because that is not the position of the law.

“We are before you for justice,” he said.

He maintained that his clients’ case concerned the interpretation of the NPP constitution, which he said embodied the spirit of its members, the breach of which provisions foreboded great dangers.

Interest of applicants
Lead counsel for the NPP, Godfred Yeboah Dame, who challenged the capacity of the applicants, also pointed out that they had failed to demonstrate what hardships they stood to suffer if their application was refused to allow the flagbearer primary to proceed on October 18.

When Justice Mustapha Habib Logoh put the question to counsel for the applicants that the rules of court required the applicants to demonstrate what injury (be it permanent, irreparable or irreversible) that they stood to suffer, counsel said the party would be brought into great confusion.

But Godfred Yeboah Dame said the applicants had no legal rights whatsoever to file the petition and that the justness of refusing the application weighed heavily in favour of the defendants.

Locus of applicants
Godfred Yeboah Dame again challenged the capacity of the applicants to file the application, saying, when the capacity of any one in a suit is challenged, the rules encumber the person to prove same at the earliest opportunity. He said this they could have done if they had valid party Identity Cards.

“If they indeed have I/D cards, they would have demonstrated so.”

Counsel for the applicants said the identity of the applicants as members of the NPP cannot be in doubt as they are known members of the NPP who have even previously contested constituency elections.

6 months not sacrosanct
According to counsel for the NPP, the National Council of the party is clothed with powers to vary the six (6) months notification required to hold election for the selection of a presidential candidate and that the provision is not sacrosanct.

He therefore prayed the court to reject the literal interpretation given the provision by the applicants, saying the application for the injunction is “totally actuated by mischief and bad faith.”

He said the application also offends the very constitution of the party because the constitution imposes obligations on members to exhaust party channels of redress, which the applicants failed to adhere to.

He said the election of a flagbearer is a process that cost resources and time, and granting the wishes of the applicants would hurt the NPP more than a refusal would to the applicants, whom he said had failed to demonstrate their interest.