The Democratic People’s Party (DPP), has filed a writ at an Accra High Court seeking an order to restrain the Electoral Commission (EC) and its chairman, Dr Kwadwo Afari-Gyan, from conducting the 2012 elections until the commission receives and processes the party’s nomination forms for the elections.
It is also seeking interest on the filing fee of Ghc10,000 which it said it paid to the EC through bankers draft and is in the commission’s coffers.
According to the statement of claim accompanying the writ dated November 6, 2012, the DPP, a political party incorporated and registered under the laws of Ghana, initiated moves to file its nomination papers to enable it contest the elections.
It said its flag bearer, Mr T.N Ward-Brew arrived at the EC at 4.35 pm on October 18, 2012, the last day for the filing of nomination papers but the hall was “jammed or packed” with presidential candidates, and their supporters or followers.
According to the writ, the hall was packed with the representatives of the Convention People’s Party (CPP), People’s National Convention (PNC), Great Consolidated Popular Party (GCPP), United Renaissance Party (URP), United Front Party (UFP), National Democratic Party (NDP), New Vision Party (NVP), Ghana Freedom Party (GFP) and representatives of the independent candidate.
It said the Returning Officer of the EC was in his office most of the time and came out occasionally, adding that there was pandemonium in the conference room with some flag bearers such as Kofi Wayo going about shouting “bureaucracy”.
Many of the flag bearers and presidential candidates, the statement said, had their nomination forms rejected but they refused to leave the precincts of the conference room and had dominated the centre stage where two chairs had been provided to seat the candidates.
The representative of the Returning Officer, the statement added, called on the presidential candidate of the DPP to appear in the centre but the congestion and overcrowding did not allow it.
It, therefore, prayed the court to declare that the conditions in the nominations filing room were unsuitable due to overcrowding and the failure of the rejected candidates to leave the conference room for the Returning Officer to attend peruse the DPP’s documents and certify them.
It also asked the court to declare that once Mr Ward-Brew was not late and had been given access to the nominations filing room at 4.35pm or thereabout, the EC was under an obligation to attend to him.
It again prayed the court to order the EC to receive the nomination forms of Mr Ward-Brew and process them to enable him to take part in the elections.
GNA
