An Accra High Court has dismissed a suit filed by pressure group Democracy Hub challenging the recent parliamentary primary conducted by the National Democratic Congress (NDC) in the Ayawaso East Constituency.
The court described the action as incompetent and procedurally flawed.
It ruled that the matter ought to have been brought by way of an application rather than a writ.
The dismissal clears the way for the NDC’s Baba Jamal, a legal practitioner who won the primary, to contest the March 3 parliamentary by-election.
Democracy Hub had dragged the NDC, the Attorney-General and the Electoral Commission (EC) to court, alleging that the primary was characterised by vote-buying and inducement.
The group sought an order to quash the EC’s recognition of Mr Jamal as the party’s candidate and to restrain the Commission from accepting or acting on his nomination until a fresh primary was conducted in line with democratic principles.
It also asked the court to declare that the primary was marred by widespread vote-buying, inducement and monetisation.
Therefore relying on its outcome to present a candidate breached Article 55(5) of the 1992 Constitution and Section 9 of the Political Parties Act, 2000 (Act 574), the group added.
According to Democracy Hub, the party’s alleged failure to address the reported misconduct rendered its actions inconsistent with constitutional and legal requirements.
