The Tamale High Court has ordered the rerun of the Kpandai parliamentary election within 30 days.
According to the High Court, the Electoral Commission has within 30 days from today to conduct the rerun.
His Lordship Emmanuel Brew Plange made this declaration following the legal challenge of the 2024 parliamentary election by the former Member of Parliament (MP) and the NDC, Daniel Nsala Wakpal.
The NDC Parliamentary Candidate for Kpandai alleged irregularities in the voting and collation processes that undermined the credibility of the outcome.
Daniel Nsala Wakpal filed the suit challenging the election of Matthew Nyindam as MP for Kpandai.
According to him, the parliamentary election held in the Kpandai in the 2024 election was invalid.
He cited “irregularities and inconsistencies in FORM 8A (Regulation 32(7) and 39(2) Statement of Polls for the Office of Member of Parliament — Pink Sheet) for 41 polling stations out of the 152 polling stations in the constituency”, reports suggest.
The NDC Parliamentary Candidate for Kpandai stated, ““The parliamentary election held in the Kpandai constituency on 7th December 2024 was not conducted in compliance with Regulations 39 of the Public Elections Regulations, 2020 (CI 127) and the principles laid down by Regulations 39, and that the said non-compliance affected the results of the elections.
“The declaration and publication of the parliamentary election results held in the Kpandai constituency on 7th December 2024 were not made in compliance with Regulations 43 of the Public Elections Regulations, 2020 (C.I 127) and the principles laid down by Regulations 43, and that the said non-compliance affected the entire results of the parliamentary elections in the Kpandai constituency.”
Wakpal, therefore, sought an order setting aside the declared results affecting the 41 polling stations. He further requested: “An order directed at the 2nd and 3rd respondents to conduct a re-run of the parliamentary elections in the affected 41 polling stations out of the 152 polling stations in the Kpandai constituency on a date determined by the court.”
His Lordship Emmanuel Brew Plange, in his judgment, upheld the petition and ordered the Electoral Commission to organise a new election to determine the rightful winner of the Kpandai constituency election.
The NPP’s Matthew Nyindam in the 2024 elections secured 27,947 votes representing 53.47%, whereas the NDC’s Daniel Nsala Wakpal got 24,213 votes representing 46.33% with a third contestant, Donkor Eric Nipani of the APC, polling a meagre 104 votes representing 0.20%.
The gap between the NDC and NPP, the vote difference was 3,734.
Meanwhile, lawyers for the NPP candidate have hinted that they’ll file for a stay of execution pending an appeal.
In related EC news, Joseph Blankson Adumadzie, a staff member of the Electoral Commission (EC), has petitioned President John Dramani Mahama for the removal of EC Chairperson Jean Mensa and her two deputies, Dr Bossman Eric Asare and Samuel Tettey.
The EC staff member in his petition cited alleged misconduct that he claims threatens the credibility of Ghana’s electoral system.
According to Joseph Blankson Adumadzie, his petition was submitted in line with Article 146 of the 1992 Constitution.
He, however, refuses to provide details in the petition, adding that it is anchored on 12 counts of stated misbehaviour.
The allegations include “cronyism, abuse of office, and gross incompetence”.
The petitioner added that the conduct of the three senior officials has eroded public confidence in the EC and poses a risk to the integrity and independence of Ghana’s electoral process.
He also argued that his actions are driven solely by the need to safeguard the Constitution and strengthen accountable governance.
Also, Prof Baffour Agyeman-Duah, a former United Nations Senior Governance Adviser, has revealed that Chairperson of the Electoral Commission (EC), Jean Mensa, and her two deputies, Dr Eric Bossman Asare and Samuel Tettey, are next in line to be removed from office.
According to Prof Baffour Agyeman-Duah, the process for the removal of Jean Mensa and her deputies has already been initiated.
He highlighted that a petition has already been sent to President John Dramani Mahama.