Amenfi Central: High Court dismisses NDC injunction - Party files new application

The Accra High Court last Thursday dismissed an application by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) that sought to restrain  the Electoral Commission (EC) from printing the notice of polls and ballot papers for Amenfi Central.

The NDC wanted the court to stop the EC from printing the ballot papers pending the final determination of its suit challenging the commission’s decision not to recognise Joana Gyan Cudjoe as the duly elected NDC candidate for Amenfi Central.

However, the court dismissed the application on the basis that the NDC could not establish any exceptional circumstances to stop the EC from conducting its constitutional duty.

It was the considered view of the court that the EC’s decision was grounded in law as it was following an order from the Sekondi High Court that placed an injunction on Ms Cudjoe not to hold herself as a Parliamentary Candidate  

Following the decision of the Accra High Court, the NDC has filed  a fresh writ at the Sekondi High Court urging the court to vacate its order of injunction 

Context

The decision follows 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 restrained Mrs Cudjoe from holding herself as the duly elected NDC parliamentary candidate for Amenfi Central until the final determination of the matter.

The NDC and the EC were prohibited from recognising or affording her any rights or privileges as the candidate.

NDC

The NDC argued that the refusal by the EC disregarded an earlier ruling, which identified Cudjoe as the rightful representative of the party.

The party therefore disagreed with the Accra High Court, arguing that the court’s ruling was based on flawed reasoning.

According to the party, the court relied on a previous injunction that they argued should no longer be relevant to the current circumstances.

Challenge

The NDC’s Deputy Director of Elections and IT, Dr Tanko Rashid Computer, explained that the judge’s interpretation of the standing injunction left them no choice but to challenge it once again in court.

“We heard the ruling alright but quickly, there was a caveat in the ruling, in the sense that the judge was referring to the old injunction that to him is still pending.

“So quickly, we instructed our lawyers to do the needful, I mean, by drafting a writ, a quick one,” he stated.

Dr Computer said the party had filed a fresh one at the Sekondi High Court to vacate that whole injunction, stressing that “the Electoral Commission was duly served at their office in Takoradi.”