EC sued over re-declaration of
Fanteakwa North results

The National Democratic Congress (NDC) parliamentary candidate for Fanteakwa North in the Eastern Region Haruna Apaw Wiredu has filed a lawsuit at the Koforidua High Court, seeking to annul the Electoral Commission’s (EC) re-declaration of the parliamentary election results in Tesano, Greater Accra.

The legal action, brought by Isaac Mintah Larbi, lead counsel at Okore Chambers, requests a judicial review, including certiorari and prohibition orders. The suit also asks the court to prevent the EC from issuing any publication or document in the name of Kwame Appiah Kodua, the NPP candidate who was declared the parliamentary winner following the EC’s re-collation of results on December 12.

Kodua’s declaration followed the EC’s annulment of the original result, which had seen Haruna Apaw Wiredu of the NDC declared the winner at Begoro, the constituency capital. The EC claimed the earlier declaration was inconsistent with established electoral procedures.

The Returning Officer, Zacharia Adams, initially reported that Wiredu had secured 11,138 votes, while Kodua received 10,847 votes. However, the EC’s subsequent re-collation of results led to Kodua being named the parliamentary-elect.

Larbi, who is also the NDC’s Director of Legal Affairs for the Eastern Region, argued that the EC’s actions breached constitutional instruments (CIs) that prohibit re-collating, recounting, or re-declaring already declared results. He stressed that the only legal recourse for anyone dissatisfied with the results is to seek a court order.

“What we are asking the court to do is to declare the EC’s re-declaration at Tesano as illegal and void,” Larbi stated. “There is no legal basis for their actions, and the electoral laws do not support such an act. The EC’s actions are a complete nullity.”

Larbi further emphasized that the EC’s use of the term “deputy returning officer” during the re-collation process in Tesano is also unlawful. “There is no legal position of ‘deputy returning officer’ under Ghana’s electoral laws, which further invalidates everything done in Tesano,” he concluded.