The much anticipated presidential and parliamentary primaries of the opposition National Democratic Congress (NDC) are limbo following a decision of the Electoral Commission (EC) not to supervise the conduct of the elections scheduled to be held on May 13, 2023.
The EC is mandated under the 1992 Constitution to supervise every electoral process in the country.
But the commission, at a meeting with the opposition party this afternoon, says it cannot execute its constitutional mandate in the upcoming primaries of the party for fear of being cited for contempt of court.
According to Chairperson of the EC, Jean Mensa, the commission has been served with a suit filed by one of the aspirants, Kwabena Duffuor seeking to stop the exercise from happening as scheduled.
In order not to be cited for acting in ways that disregard the application before the court, Madam Mensa said, the EC has decided to wash its hands off the exercise until the court determines the case.
“Yesterday, we were served with an Application for Interlocutory Injunction seeking to restrain the Commission from supervising the conduct of the Presidential and Parliamentary Primaries due to the alleged anomalies with the register.
Gentlemen, in order that we are not cited for contempt, the Commission has taken the decision not to supervise the conduct of the Presidential and Parliamentary elections until after the determination of the case by the court,” she stated.
Kwabena Duffuor, who is seeking to lead the NDC, had raised concerns over what he said are discrepancies with the voters register compiled by the party for the conduct of the primaries.
But the Election Committee of the party rubbished his concerns forcing him to seek legal redress.
In a writ filed at an Accra High Court, Dr. Duffuor accused the leadership of the party of failing to make available the photo album register meant to be used for the conduct of the primaries on time for his inspection as stipulated by the party’s rules.
He also alleged that he and his Campaign Team have identified irregularities with the register which make it inaccurate and unreliable for a free, fair and credible elections.
He is, therefore, praying the court to restrain the party and the EC from going ahead with the processes until the anomalies are rectified.
But the party has called him out, accusing him of seeking to mar the exercise with what it says are frivolous allegations.
