The National Democratic Congress (NDC) has raised strong objections to the swearing-in of three New Patriotic Party (NPP) Members of Parliament-elect, citing legal and procedural irregularities in the process that declared them winners.
The three MPs-elect, Patrick Yaw Boamah, Charles Forson, and Martin Adjei Mensah Korsah, were declared winners of the Okaikwei Central, Tema Central, and Techiman South constituencies, respectively, after a High Court-ordered collation of results.
However, Justice Srem Sai, a member of the NDC’s legal team, has argued that the process was flawed and that the swearing-in of the MPs-elect would be a constitutional violation.
According to Justice Srem Sai, the NDC had filed an appeal for a stay of execution against the court order that initiated the collation, which has been formally served on the Electoral Commission.
This, he claims, puts the re-collation process under judicial review and renders any further action by the EC unlawful.
Speaking on the Citi Breakfast Show on Monday, January 6, Justice Srem Sai stated, “We appealed for a stay and that has been served on the Electoral Commission. I understand that the EC has even filed an affidavit in opposition, and so our point is that once you have a notice of a stay application, then you cannot in any lawfulness be conducting the re-collation.”
He further emphasized, “I do not see why someone will say the swearing-in will happen, and I don’t think we should continue to entertain that because it is unlawful… Our point is that such behaviours will not be blessed by law and it is in that frame that we are saying that the three MPs ought not to be sworn in. They should not be sworn in until such a time that the markings concerning their alleged election are resolved.”
The NDC is insisting that the three MPs-elect should not be sworn in until the allegations surrounding their election are resolved.
The party’s objections have thrown a spanner in the works, and it remains to be seen how the situation will unfold.