The High Court has rejected an application from Nana Akua Afriyie, the NPP’s parliamentary candidate for Ablekuma North in 2024, which sought to prevent a scheduled rerun of parliamentary elections in 19 polling stations within the constituency on July 11, 2025.
Justice Ali Baba Abature dismissed the motion for an interim injunction, deeming it “unmeritorious,” and ruled that the balance of convenience supports the Electoral Commission’s constitutional obligation to ensure representation for the populace.
The applicant contended that the actions of the Electoral Commission violated a binding High Court ruling issued on January 4, 2025, which mandated the Commission to finalize the collation of 62 outstanding polling station results and announce a winner for the parliamentary election held on December 7, 2024.
In court, the legal representative for the NPP, Gary Nimako, stated that following the January ruling, the Electoral Commission itself acknowledged in various public statements, including a press release dated January 27, 2025, and a parliamentary briefing by Deputy EC Chair Dr. Bossman Asare, that only three polling stations had yet to be collated.
Nimako maintained that the decision to rerun elections in 19 polling stations was not only unwarranted but also a direct challenge to the authority of the court.
He stressed that the results from each polling station, or “pink sheets,” had already been certified by party agents and presiding officers at the time of the election, rendering a rerun both unnecessary and illegal.
“A rerun is only permissible in the event of a tie,” he asserted, citing Regulation 42 of the Public Elections Regulations, 2020 (C.I. 127), which stipulates that a rerun is only warranted in cases of equal votes, a situation the Electoral Commission has not claimed.
Afriyie’s legal team argued that if the Electoral Commission encountered difficulties in executing the January 4 judgment, it should have sought clarification from the High Court instead of unilaterally deciding on a rerun, which they described as an act of contempt.
“A rerun can only take place in the event of a tie,” he contended, citing Regulation 42 of the Public Elections Regulations, 2020 (C.I. 127), which stipulates that a rerun is warranted solely in instances of a tie in votes, a situation that the EC has not asserted.
Afriyie’s legal representatives maintained that the EC, if encountering difficulties in implementing the January 4 judgment, ought to have sought clarification from the High Court instead of unilaterally deciding on a rerun, which they deemed a contemptuous action.
Although the EC was absent to provide a response when the motion was submitted, Ex parte, Justice Abature inquired whether the applicant had demonstrated that the results could be legally compiled without additional verification by the presiding officers, a point that counsel failed to clearly establish under the stipulations of C.I. 127.
In his decision, Justice Abature remarked that the EC possesses the constitutional authority to conduct elections, and any postponement in permitting the rerun would deny the citizens of Ablekuma North their right to representation in Parliament.
“Following a thorough and meticulous examination of the applicant’s motion paper, supporting affidavit, statement of case as submitted, along with the supplementary affidavit… the request for an injunction against the respondent is dismissed as lacking merit,” Justice Abature declared.
He further noted that the EC, as a governmental entity, would be capable of compensating the applicant with damages should she prevail in her substantive legal challenge.
