Mahama fumes over court’s delay in hearing injunction application against EC

The National Democratic Congress (NDC) and four other political parties filed an injunction action against the Electoral Commission (EC) regarding limited voter registration, and former president John Dramani Mahama is upset that the Supreme Court has not yet scheduled a hearing.

On September 7, five political parties filed a lawsuit contesting the EC’s choice to limit the next voter registration drive to its district offices. They contend that the choice will deny the right to vote to many qualified people, particularly those who reside in distant places.

Within a few days of the application’s submission, the Supreme Court was supposed to have set a hearing for it, but it has not yet done so.

The NDC, the Convention People’s Party (CPP), the All People’s Congress, the Liberal Party of Ghana, and the Great Consolidated Popular Party are the five political parties.

Although it was anticipated, the court has not yet set a date for the application.

Mr Mahama in a Facebook post stated that “Contrary to the time-honoured practice of the Registrar of the Supreme Court giving dates for applications to be moved, the Registrar has, as of this afternoon, refused to give a date for the application for interlocutory injunction filed against the Electoral Commission (EC) in relation to the Commission’s decision to limit the upcoming voter registration exercise to its district offices only.

“The writ and the injunction application were duly filed at the Registry of the Supreme Court on Thursday, 7th September 2023, at 2:50 p.m.

“The Registrar informed the applicants’ representatives that they were awaiting the date to be given by the Chief Justice, who was outside the jurisdiction at the time. The Chief Justice returned and travelled to Cape Coast for the Bar Conference. As I write, the applicants’ representatives are still waiting at the registry of the Supreme Court”.

Further criticizing the court, Mr. Mahama said that the public’s faith in the justice delivery system was not likely to increase as a result of the court’s actions.

“This is unprecedented and does not augur well for public confidence in the justice delivery system. In 2012, when a Ghanaian citizen decided to challenge the creation of the 45 new constituencies, the Supreme Court had a sole judge to decide the interlocutory injunction application in a timely manner.

“The EC starts the lopsided registration exercise tomorrow for which this process is being filed, and yet we all know the famous mantra, “Justice delayed, is justice denied.”