The High Court in Accra, presided over by Justice Ali Baba Abature, has dismissed an ex parte motion filed by New Patriotic Party (NPP) parliamentary candidate for Ablekuma North, Akua Afriyie Owusu, seeking to place an interim injunction on the Electoral Commission (EC) from conducting a planned rerun of parliamentary elections in 19 polling stations within the constituency.
The court ruled on Tuesday that the application lacked merit, noting that the balance of convenience favored the Electoral Commission, which holds the constitutional mandate to conduct elections to ensure the people of Ablekuma North are duly represented in Parliament.
In her application, Akua Afriyie Owusu prayed the court to restrain the EC from proceeding with the scheduled rerun on July 11, 2025, for a period of 10 days, to allow for the service of a motion on notice. The motion was intended to compel the Commission to explain why it allegedly failed to comply with a High Court judgment dated January 4, 2025, which ordered the collation of results from 62 polling stations and the declaration of a winner.
Counsel for the applicant, Garry Nimako Marfo, argued that the EC had initially acknowledged only three outstanding polling stations as per its own press statements, parliamentary briefings, and official correspondence. He submitted that the sudden shift to a rerun in 19 polling stations was inconsistent with the Commission’s prior position and constituted a breach of the January 4 court order.
Exhibits tendered before the court, including correspondence and public statements by EC officials such as Deputy Chairperson Dr. Bossman Asare, reportedly indicated that only three polling station results were pending collation and that the EC required security support to proceed with the collation, not a rerun.
Mr. Marfo contended that the EC’s decision to organize a rerun without any declaration of a tie between candidates, as required under Regulation 42 of C.I. 127, was unlawful and undermined the authority of the judiciary. He further argued that a rerun in the absence of a formal appeal or variation of the January 4 judgment was a contemptuous act by the Commission.
However, in his ruling, Justice Abature stated that after thoroughly examining the motion, supporting affidavits, and legal submissions, the application was unmeritorious. He emphasized that the constitutional right of constituents to have parliamentary representation outweighed the applicant’s concerns.
The judge further noted that the Electoral Commission, as a public institution, would be in a position to compensate the applicant should she succeed in the substantive case.
The ruling effectively clears the path for the EC to proceed with the scheduled rerun in the 19 disputed polling stations in Ablekuma North on July 11, 2025.
