Techiman South petition: Court orders EC to produce documents
The WenchI High Court has for the second time ordered the Electoral Commission (EC) to make available the original documents of the 2020 Techiman South parliamentary election for inspection by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) parliamentary candidate, Mr Christopher Beyere Baasongti.
According to the court, the inspection of the documents would be done at the Registry of the court on April 19, this year, between 2.00 p.m and 4.00 p.m.
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The presiding judge, Justice Frederick Nawurah, however, gave a stern warning that the exercise was strictly official as it was part of the court process, and, therefore, it was out of bounds for supporters of the parties.
The order given by the court yesterday followed the inability of Mr Baasongti to obtain the original documents despite a previous order by the court on April 1 granting him the greenlight to inspect the documents.
Petition
The case was initiated by Mr Baasongti, who filed a petition challenging the election of the NPP MP for Techiman South, Mr Martin Kwaku Adjei-Mensah Korsah
It is the case of Mr Baasongti that per the votes counted at all the polling stations in Techiman South, he (Baasongti) should have been declared the MP-elect.
The petitioner contended that apart from getting the highest number of votes, there was no collation of the results as required by Regulation 43 of the Public Elections Regulations, 2020 (C.I. 127), but the EC’s returning officer ended up declaring Mr Korsah the winner.
Among other reliefs, the petitioner is seeking an order from the court directed at the EC to collate the results of all the polling stations in Techiman South and also for the EC to publicly declare him as the winner of the 2020 parliamentary election in the constituency.
Arguments
At yesterday’s hearing, counsel for the petitioner, Mr Justin Pwavra Teriwajah, told the court that the EC had not complied with the orders of the court given on April1, 2021.
According to counsel, apart from the failure of the EC to allow his client to inspect the original documents, the answers to some interrogatories by the EC were not satisfactory, and should, therefore, be struck out.
Counsel urged the court to order the arrest of the Returning Officer of the Techiman South during the 2020 election, Nana Dwamena Frempah, who he said refused to answer interrogatories served him.
In his response, counsel for the EC, Mr Emmanuel Addae, said his client was within the seven-day order and that the plaintiff could still go to the EC for the inspection.
He also stated that the returning officer of the Techiman South, Nana Dwamena Frempah, did not answer the interrogatories because he argued that he was no more an officer of the EC.
According to him, Nana Frempah objected to the interrogatories because his appointment from October to December 2020 had elapsed.
Ruling
In his ruling, Justice Nawurah held that although the Returning Officer was no longer an employee of the EC, the interrogatories were within his personal knowledge due to the role he played in the elections and, therefore, it would be fair for him to answer them.
He, therefore, gave him seven days to answer the agreed interrogatories.
There were jeers and shouts by female supporters of both parties which neatly resulted in scuffles.
Among the people in the packed courtroom were the General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Mr Johnson Asiedu Nketiah and Mr Peter Mac-Manu, a leading member of the NPP.