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General News on Wednesday, June 12, 2019
Source: dailyguidenetwork.com
2019-06-12
President of the European Commission, Jean Mensa
Yesterday, the Supreme Court rejected a request to place a temporary injunction on the limited registration process provided by the Electoral Commission (EC).
The petition filed by a private citizen, Umar Ayuba, in the High Court was to stay the exercise until the final decision on a prosecution against the Attorney General and the EC the terms of the registration process. .
He sued the EC and the Attorney General against the EC's decision to register electors online during its limited registration exercise on the grounds that the decision had not been provided for by law.
He stated that the balance of convenience favored the public interest, especially those who risked being deprived of their rights and punished by the limited online registration exercise if the EC were authorized to continue the registration exercise pending the final decision of the proceedings in court. .
The case is still in the preliminary stage, but the plaintiff has filed an application for an interim injunction to enjoin the court to order the EC not to go through the limited registration process.
Suspension
Last month, the EC had to suspend the planned limited registration because of the resulting legal conflicts.
The commission had scheduled the registration of persons who reached the age of 18 in all its district offices and in some electoral areas of the country, from 7 to 27 June 2019.
However, in a statement signed by Sylvia Annoh of its Communications Branch, the EC states: "The EC wishes to announce to the public that, considering the pending injunction application to prevent the commission from holding the company, limited registration of voters fiscal year scheduled from June 7 to 27, 2019, the next fiscal year was suspended until further notice. "
According to the release, a new date for the exercise would be announced.
Injunction
Moving the claim on behalf of his client, Dr. Dominic Ayine, a private legal practitioner, argued that if the process undergoing adoption by the EC in the registration was not stopped by the court, this would result in repression of the voters' vote. people would not be able to register to vote.
He said that about 1.7 million people should enroll, but with the current approach adopted by the EC, a very large number of people have a chance of not being able to Register to vote in the 2020 elections.
He therefore urged the court to impose an injunction on the process to prevent the violation of voting rights of eligible Ghanaians.
Opposition
Deputy Attorney General Godfred Yeboah and EC Counsel Justine Amenuvor opposed the request, urging the court to dismiss it.
Mr. Dame baderted that in his application, the plaintiff did not disclose any reasonable cause of action for which the court should terminate the proceedings.
According to him, the complaint is incompetent on the substantive and procedural level, and "totally ambiguous and nothing else".
"The plaintiff has not established a right or of any nature whatsoever and the petition does not properly invoke the jurisdiction of the court," Dame added.
For his part, Mr. Amenuvor baderted that "the action brought by the plaintiff does not disclose any reasonable cause of action for which he may seek an interlocutory injunction on the exercise".
After listening to both parties, a seven-member panel chaired by Judge Julius Ansah rejected the request.
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