The Member of Parliament of South Dayi, Rockson-Nelson Dafeamekpor, has raised concerns about the actions of the Electoral Commission (EC) of Ghana, describing it as a threat to the nation's democracy.
His comments came in response to EC Chairperson Jean Mensa's announcement that issues with the parliamentary results of nine constituencies from the 2024 Election are yet to be resolved.
According to Dafeamekpor, the EC's handling of the situation is uncalled for, stating that there is no constitutional provision for the EC to take further actions after the declaration of results.
“There's no other provision, particularly after the declaration of the results, for the Electoral Commission to do what it is doing. In fact, Jean Mensa has become a danger to our democracy because, you see, she cannot be a law unto herself.
"The Electoral Commission is subject to the constitution and subject to CI 127. CI 127 is very clear that where results are declared, it is not up to the Electoral Commission or the Electoral Commissioners to decide to ignore, validate, or not validate that declaration because the declaration is pursuant to CI 127," he said.
The MP continued to say "The constitution is very clear in Article 99, Article 99, Clause 1, Paragraph A, whereabout that where a person is aggrieved or there's a challenge in respect of whether or not the parliamentary seat or election to a parliamentary Member of Parliament is in doubt, the high court is seized with the original jurisdiction in this matter. So, where parliamentary results of parliamentary elections are in doubt in some respective constituencies, any person aggrieved with the declaration conducted by officials of the EC, the forum for convening to remedy the matter is the high court."
He added that the EC, particularly its chairperson, is overstepping its authority by attempting to validate or ignore the declared results.
The South Dayi MP also said that the EC’s attempt to intervene in the declared results is undermining the democratic process.
He stated “Now, it is interesting that even though the EC has been sued and has been properly served, in fact, in one of the cases brought against the EC by the NDC, the matter is slated for tomorrow at the high court in Accra, General Jurisdiction, particularly General Jurisdiction 2. The matter is slated to be heard tomorrow, and yet the EC conducts itself in a manner that I will call contemptuous by holding this press conference, particularly ignoring the court processes that seek to injunct this very conduct.”
Watch his remarks below:
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