Court sets Jan. 4 for ruling on Mandamus application on 4 disputed constituencies

An Accra High Court has concluded its hearings on the disputed election results for four parliamentary constituencies: Tema Central, Okaikwei Central, Techiman South, and Ablekuma North.

The court has scheduled its judgment for Saturday, January 4, at 12 p.m., following robust legal submissions from the New Patriotic Party (NPP), the National Democratic Congress (NDC), and the Electoral Commission (EC).

In the Tema Central case, Gary Nimako, representing the NPP, argued that the collation process was disorganized and incomplete, with results from two polling stations missing. He maintained that the NDC, despite claiming victory, failed to provide pink sheets to substantiate the results. The EC supported this argument, requesting the court’s permission to finalize the collation process.

Conversely, NDC’s lawyer, Edudzi Tamakloe, contested the application, arguing that any alleged breach of electoral laws (C.I. 147) required an election petition, not a mandamus request. He referenced a letter from the NPP’s candidate acknowledging the results declaration and stated that a mandamus order was inappropriate without evidence of a prior request that the EC had denied.

In the case of Okaikwei Central, the legal representatives for NPP’s Patrick Boamah claimed they had formally demanded a proper collation of results from the EC. They alleged that results were declared using only 110 out of 148 polling stations, declaring Baba Sadiq of the NDC as the winner.

The EC maintained that the results were incomplete and requested the court’s directive to complete the collation process, emphasizing that only 78 percent of polling station data was used in the initial declaration. Tamakloe, representing the NDC, argued that the NPP’s correspondence with the EC acknowledged the declaration but sought to overturn it—a matter requiring an election petition, not a mandamus order. He further stated that the EC had already acted, even if the process was flawed.

For Techiman South and Ablekuma North, Gary Nimako called for the court to rely on the evidence submitted, including documents and video recordings.

While the EC did not oppose this approach, it urged the court to carefully examine all materials. The NDC, however, insisted on addressing each constituency’s issues separately, citing unique concerns that required individual consideration.