Possible injunction on 2020 elections if… – Lawyer warns

Ghanaian lawyer who served as the lawyer of the 31 alleged secessionists of ‘Western Togoland, Theophilus Donkor, has warned that there could be an injunction placed on the 2020 general elections if the Electoral Commission does not publish the names of the 30,000 disqualified persons from the voters register as soon as possible.

His warning comes at the back of the news that the Tamale High Court has ordered the EC to restore names of four hundred and forty-three persons (443) in the Kutumbiyili Electoral Area in the Zabzugu District of the Northern Region to enable them vote in the December polls.

Speaking in an interview with Samuel Eshun on the Happy Morning Show, the lawyer explained that if the names of these 30,000 are published later than now, a legal redress by affected persons may cause an injunction on the December polls.

“The legal effect is that when it [the publishing of names] comes late and there is a legal redress, one can tell the court that an injunction should be placed on the elections. If we are unable to carry on with the elections, it can have constitutional implications. 30,000 votes can make a difference, especially in the Presidential elections”.

He urged the Electoral Commission to immediately publish these names to avoid “a constitutional crisis”. “The challenge here is that the list is not out so majority cannot tell if their names are part or not. So what I will request is that the EC publishes the list so that we can know if we need to take legal redress as a necessary step before election”, he added.

The Electoral Commission (EC) has deleted some 30,000 names from the voters register.
The affected persons are said to have engaged in multiple registrations or were challenged and not cleared by the various district review committees.

They have therefore been barred from taking part in the December 7 Elections and have further been barred from registering as voters for a period of time.

By: Alberta Dorcas N D Armah