Ghanaian Lawyer Theophilus Donkor has expressed disappointment in the Supreme Court over Peter Amewu’s case as he states that the court failed to give a “consequential order” to the Electoral Commission to rectify the violation of the rights of the people.
In an interview with Samuel Eshun on the Happy Morning Show, he explained: “When Paa Kwasi Ndoum was denied joining the presidential contest in the 2016 and he sent it to the Supreme Court,the court made consequential orders to the EC on what to do when it was quashing the decision,. So I was expecting that after making this decision, they will make consequential orders to cater for the rights of the people of the south. But that was not done”.
He noted that while the issue of the boundary of the Hohoe constituency seems to be complicated, the issue of the rights of the people being infringed upon stands out. He maintained that even though the court has acknowledged people who were not allowed to vote had their rights violated, he was “disappointed that he supreme court did not make consequential orders directed at the EC”.
Background
The Ho High Court on December 23, 2020, presided over by Justice George Buadi granted an interim injunction restraining the Electoral Commission from gazetting Mr. Amewu as the MP for Hohoe.
This followed an ex parte application filed by residents of the Guan District who were not given the opportunity to vote in the parliamentary elections on December 7, 2020.
Eligible voters within areas in the newly created district; namely Santrokofi, Akpafu, Likpe, and Lolobi, were only allowed to take part in the presidential election but could not vote in the parliamentary election because a constituency had not been created for them.
Yesterday, however, the Supreme Court quashed an order of the Ho High order of injunction brought against the Member of Parliament (MP) elect for Hohoe, John Peter Amewu.
The Apex Court has also quashed another order by the Ho High Court which placed an injunction on the EC from presenting Mr Amewu to parliament as MP-elect for Hohoe.
The Supreme Court said, John Peter Amewu, though a beneficiary, had nothing to do with the denial of the rights of the residents of the SALL area to vote.