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Court of
Appeal to hear Asutifi South election petition
Accra, Feb. 16, Ghanadot/GNA - The Court of
Appeal (CA) will on Tuesday hear an appeal application
brought before it by the Electoral Commission (EC)
challenging the Sunyani High Court’s ruling on a preliminary
objection on the Asutifi South Parliamentary election
petition.
When the matter came up for hearing on January 10, Mr
Justice Francis Kwabena Opoku, the Supervising High Court
Judge sitting on it, adjourned proceedings sine die
(indefinitely) following a notice to the effect that the EC
had filed an appeal against the ruling.
The EC is praying the Court of Appeal to stay proceedings at
the High Court because, in the view of the Commission, the
petition is not properly laid before the court.
After the December 7 elections, Mr Yiadom Boakye-Boateng,
New Patriotic Party (NPP) Parliamentary candidate for
Asutifi South, filed an election petition and a motion for
interim injunction at the Sunyani High Court praying it to
restrain electoral officers from declaring the result of the
election in the constituency.
Mr Boakye-Boateng alleged that the entire process of
collating the constituency results needed to be looked into
or investigated because it was fraught with corrupt and
illegal practices.
He further alleged that the electoral officers, presiding
officers, polling agents, security personnel and the NDC
candidate, Alhaji Collins Dauda, had involved themselves in
electoral malfeasance.
On December 22, 2008, the High Court overruled a preliminary
objection raised by counsel for Alhaji Collins Dauda, the
National Democratic Congress candidate, that the application
was not properly brought before the court.
In his ruling, Mr Justice Opoku said Mr Boakye-Boateng’s
application was properly laid before the court.
The Asutifi South and Akwatia constituencies are the
remaining parliamentary results yet to be declared by the
Electoral Commission.
GNA
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