The Supreme Court will today, Tuesday, January 5, deliver judgment in the case in which the state is challenging an injunction on the gazetting and swearing-in of Member of Parliament-elect for the Hohoe constituency, John Peter Amewu.
The injunction was granted after some residents of Santrokofi, Akpafu, Likpe, and Lolobi (SALL), argued that their inability to vote in the just-ended parliamentary election amounted to a breach of their rights.
The court on Monday overruled an interim injunction challenging the empanelling of Justice Clemence Honyenuga to hear the case.
Ahead of today’s expected judgment, lawyers for the SALL residents are expected to file a supplementary statement of the case and affidavits by 8:00 am.
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 December 7 parliamentary election.
They said, the creation of the Oti Region, coupled with a recent Supreme Court decision and failure of the EC to create a constituency for them, meant they did not vote for a parliamentary candidate in the just-ended election.
But the State through a Deputy Attorney General, Godfred Dame, filed a motion at the Supreme Court to fight the injunction placed on Amewu by the Ho High Court.
The Deputy Attorney General argued that the High Court in exercising its human rights oversight had no jurisdiction to grant the injunction as the SALL residents did not go through the proper procedure.
It is the case of the state that John Peter Amewu’s victory in the Hohoe parliamentary election was gazetted a day before the residents of the SALL residents went to the High Court to place an injunction on the process.
He further added that the residents of SALL do not belong to the Volta Region where the Hohoe constituency is found therefore cannot challenge the election of the Member of Parliament.
However, the lawyers of the residents of SALL argued that the action by the Electoral Commission to deny their clients from voting in the parliamentary election in Hohoe is a breach of the fundamental human rights, administrative justice and the right to equality before the law.
The lead lawyer, Tsatsu Tsikata also challenged the constitutionality of the C.I. 128 arguing that it was not published on the right date as required by the Constitution.
-ModernGhana