Ghana is facing a constitutional crisis, and the Electoral Commission (EC) is at the center of the storm. Former Tamale Central MP, Inusah Fuseini, has accused the EC of creating this crisis through its handling of disputed parliamentary election results. Fuseini, a private legal practitioner, expressed his concerns on Joy News' Newsfile, stating that the EC's actions have exacerbated tensions and undermined the legal framework that governs electoral disputes.
The controversy surrounds the EC's decision to comply with a High Court order for the re-collation of results in nine constituencies. Fuseini described this move as both unnecessary and procedurally flawed. He argued that the EC's rush to re-collate the disputed results contravened Constitutional Instrument (CI) 127, which details the steps aggrieved candidates must take to challenge election results.
The Supreme Court has since quashed the results in the re-collation of votes in Tema Central, Ablekuma North, Techiman South, and Okaikwei Central in the 2024 parliamentary elections. The court cited the trial judge's violation of the right to a hearing of the NDC Parliamentary Candidates when they applied to the High Court.
Fuseini suggested that the situation could have been resolved more effectively if the EC had waited for the election results to be gazetted, allowing aggrieved parties to pursue their cases through the courts. He also pointed out the inherent conflict in the EC's role in this matter, accusing the Commission of acting as an interested party rather than an impartial arbiter.
Ghana's democratic processes are now in disarray, and the EC's failure to adhere to its constitutional mandate has thrown the country into a constitutional crisis. As Fuseini noted, "We have been put into a constitutional crisis today because the EC appears to be the interested party in this case." The situation is dire, and it remains to be seen how Ghana will extricate itself from this crisis.
The implications of this crisis are far-reaching, and it is essential that the EC takes immediate action to address the concerns raised by Fuseini and other stakeholders. The Commission must ensure that it acts impartially and in accordance with the constitution to restore trust in Ghana's electoral process. The country's democracy depends on it.
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