GRi in Court Ghana 15 - 12 - 2000
NPP candidate files suit against EC, four
others
NPP candidate files suit against EC, four
others
Sunyani (Brong Ahafo) 15 December 2000
Mr Joe Danquah, NPP parliamentary candidate for Wenchi West, has filed a suit at a Sunyani High Court against the Electoral Commission (EC) and four others, challenging the validity of the constituency's December 7 election results.
Mr. Danquah is seeking an order from the court to nullify the results of both the presidential and parliamentary elections in the constituency.
The petition accompanying the suit is also calling on the court to issue a writ for fresh presidential and parliamentary elections in the constituency in view of "the corrupt and illegal practices" that characterised the elections.
The other four respondents in the suit are the Regional Electoral Officer, Sunyani, District Electoral Officer, Wenchi, Wenchi West constituency returning officer, and Mr John Asiedu Nketia, NDC parliamentary candidate.
The petition, filed on behalf of Mr Danquah by his lawyer, stated that, in the collation of the election results in the constituency, there was "material non-compliance with the provisions of the electoral laws of the country".
It said that in spite of protests by agents of Mr Danquah, the district electoral officer and the returning officer refused to await the arrival of all the 141 ballot boxes and to physically count and identify them before the commencement of collation.
The petition said the two officers refused to parade all the 141 boxes for physical identification and cross checking with the list of code numbers of the 141 polling stations when it was established that four additional "strange boxes" had emerged.
Mr Danquah said that when collation was suspended because of the emergence of the four strange boxes, he was expecting to be notified in time for the second collation but he was not.
On the day of the second collation, he received a hand written note at around 6.30 p.m. at his hometown, Banda Sabie, on December 9 informing him to be at Wenchi at 5 p.m. on the same day for the exercise, it said.
The petitioner said when he got there on December 10, he did not meet anybody but, strangely, he saw on the Internet that Mr Asiedu-Nketia of the NDC had won.
The petition contended that since Mr Danquah or his agents were not present at the second collation, whatever results were declared there were illegal, null and void, and ought to be set aside.
"That the collation of the results was done without the participation of the petitioner and, indeed, the gents of the CPP, NRP, and NPP, apart from that of the NDC, is bizarre and renders the results null and void."
The petition added that the fact that the district electoral officer admitted that 18 ballot boxes were dumped in front of his office at Wenchi at the time when collation was still going on at Nsawkaw constituency centre showed that the collation process was flawed.
"It is for these and other reasons that the honourable court is being asked to impose an order of perpetual injunction and any orders that it may deem just to bring about fairness and justice."
The court is set to fix a date for the hearing of the petition, which was filed on Wednesday.
GRi…/
Aflao (Volta Region) 15 December
2000
Christian Abusa, 37, one of the
six inmates who escaped from the Dzodze police cells on November 23, this year,
was on Wednesday jailed two years in hard labour by a Circuit Court at Aflao.
Kwame Kotoka, the first escapee to
be re-arrested is currently serving a similar sentence, while four other
including Dzifa Abusah, 40, who stole an AK 47 assault rifle and some rounds of
ammunition belonging to the Ghana Police Service before fleeing, are still at
large.
Abusa, who was arrested by a group
of young men at Deme, a village along the Ghana Togo border when he attempted
to cross into Togo with five sheep, will reappear before the court on December
27, to face a charge of stealing.
Police Chief Inspector Enoch
Adjatey, told the court presided over by Mr Francis Opoku that Abusa and five
others who were involved in various stealing cases, were remanded in custody by
the Dzodze Community Tribunal to reappear on November 28.
The prosecution said Abusa stole a
police baton from the charge office, while his cousin, Dzifa stole the rifle
and ammunition.
On December 13, at about 0200
hours, Abusah stole the sheep worth 500,000 cedis belonging to Mr. Agbogla
Ekpe, a 70 year- old blind farmer at Deme.
Passing sentence, Mr. Opoku urged
the police to intensify their search for Dzifa to retrieve the arm and
ammunition.
GRi…/