High Court throws out NDC election petition

Efforts by the opposition National Democratic Congress to overturn the 2020 parliamentary results of the Techiman South constituency in the Bono East region ended on rocks yesterday as the Wenchi High Court threw out the petition filed against Martin Adjei-Mensah Korsah, who won the election for the governing NPP.

The Court also fined the petitioners a sum of GH¢100,000, to be shared between the elected MP and the Electoral Commission.

The NDC had claimed that it won the Techiman South Parliamentary election, but the Electoral Commission (EC) and the New Patriotic Party (NPP) connived to deny it the supposed victory.

Suit

The NDC parliamentary candidate had contested the EC’s verdict which gave the NPP’s candidate victory with 49,682 votes, representing 50.2 percent of the total valid votes cast, whilst the NDC’s candidate had 49,205 votes, representing 49.8 percent of the total valid votes cast.

The suit by the NDC sought to quash the declaration of the NPP’s Martin Adjei-Mensah Korsah as Techiman South MP, and declare Dr Christopher Beyere Baasongti as the legitimate winner of the Techiman South 2020 parliamentary elections.

The NDC parliamentary candidate insisted that the figures were not a true reflection of the election.

According to him, per the pink sheets of the NDC agents at each of the 267 polling stations, he garnered 50,306 votes in the parliamentary election whilst the first respondent polled 50,013 votes.

But at the hearing yesterday, the court explained that the NDC’s 2020 parliamentary candidate, Christopher Beyere, who was pursuing the matter, failed to successfully discharge the burden of proof through the petition.

The NPP has always maintained its candidate and current Member of Parliament (MP), Martin Adjei-Mensah Korsah, was legally elected as announced by the Electoral Commission, accusing the NDC of engaging in propaganda.

The Electoral Commission also maintained that Martin Adjei Mensah Korsah polled 49,682 votes as against 49,205 votes for Christopher Beyere of the NDC.

‘General Mosquito’ disappears

The Court was attended by some leaders of the NDC, including the party’s General Secretary, Johnson Asiedu Nketia, who was sighted leaving the court premises a few minutes before the judgement.

There was heavy police presence at the Wenchi High Court in the Bono Region ahead of the ruling.

Soon after the court ruling, supporters and sympathizers of the NPP went into a frenzied mood, and jubilated at the forecourt of the court. They continued jubilation to the Central Business District of Wench. Some of them also continued with the jubilation to the Techiman South constituency, which is less than 30 minutes-drive from Wenchi.