Supreme Court dismisses injunction on Manya Krobo elections
The Supreme Court has dismissed an application for injunction filed by some residents of the Osudoku District to restrain the Electoral Commission (EC) from proceeding with district assembly elections in Manya Krobo next week.
The court, presided over by Justice William Atuguba, explained that the EC could organise the district assembly elections on the strength of LI 1983 which places Akuse in the Lower Manya Krobo District in the Eastern Region.
The court’s decision brings a long standing boundary dispute between the Greater Accra and Eastern regions on the geographical location of Manya Krobo to a close, paving the way for the assembly elections that have been on hold since 2010.
In 2010, a Parliamentary Sub-Legislation Committee, acting on the Local Government Instrument 2010, LI 1983 (Creation of New District Electoral Areas and Designation of Units), illegally aligned seven electoral areas — Zongo New Town, Akutue, Osukutu, Bungalow, Amedeka, Salon and Natriku — at Akuse, originally part of the Lower Manya Krobo municipality in the Eastern Region to the Dangme West District (now Shai-Osudoku District) in the Greater Accra Region, sparking off a boundary dispute that led to the suspension of the assembly elections in the entire municipality.
Subsequent to that, attempts were made by the EC during the 2010 district assembly elections to rope the candidates of the seven disputed electoral areas into the elections under the Dangme West District, leading to a near bloody attack and months-long closure of the EC’s office in the Manya Krobo District.
The elections, however, took place at Natriku but not at the other six communities.
As a result, the Manya Krobo Traditional Council, led by the Defender of the Krobo State, Mahefalor Nene Kwesitsu Azago I, and Mr Charles Mate-Kole secured an injunction to restrain the EC from conducting the elections in the entire Manya Krobo municipality, rendering the assembly empty till date.
After what proved to be a costly legal battle spanning a period of one-and-a-half years (December 2010 to June 2012), the Supreme Court declared the said LI 1983 unconstitutional and retained the electoral areas in Lower Manya in the Eastern Region.
But more than two years after the assembly elections were held nationwide and nearly one-and-a-half years after the ruling on the dispute by the Supreme Court (on June 13, 2012), the elections were not held.
According to Joy News report, lawyer for Lower Manya, Godfred Dame Yeboah, had argued that if the court granted the restraining order, the people of Manya Krobo would be denied their constitutional rights.
He said residents had suffered for too long, and added that since the case was ruled on last year, nothing had changed.
The chiefs and people of Osudoku led by their Lawyer, Sarfo Buabeng, had prayed the court to rule that Manya Krobo was part of the Greater Accra Region.
But the court ruled against them placing the town under the Eastern Region.
