Konadu Sues EC
Dr. Josiah Aryeh (left) with Nana Konadu Agyeman-Rawlings
By Charles Takyi-Boadu
Nana Konadu’s application to contest the upcoming elections as the presidential candidate of the newly-formed National Democratic Party (NDP) was rejected by the EC.
Though the leadership of NDP has had cause to petition the commission against the decision, the chairman of the party, Dr Nii Armah Josiah-Aryeh, has dropped hints the party is likely to file for an order of ‘mandamus’ to compel the Commission to include Mrs. Rawlings’s name in the list of candidates on the ballot paper.
Dr Aryeh, who spoke to DAILY GUIDE yesterday, said, “I have finished drawing up the pleadings…I am hopeful that it will be filed tomorrow but we’ve finished with the document.
“We are filing the substantive case tomorrow. Additionally, we are filing an order of mandamus compelling the Electoral Commission to do what they must do because we think that there is a public duty; there is dereliction of duty; there is breach of duty and they must be directed to do what must be done,” he noted.
The NDP Chief said “we also believe we may have to go back to court for an injunction because we’re going to the Human Rights Court and the Human Rights Court if you look at the procedures, if you file a case, the other party has 21 days to respond and we can’t afford 21 days.
“So, in addition to what we file, we may also go for an injunction to restrain or stay the hand of the Electoral Commission from proceeding while this matter is still at it.”
In a statement issued in Accra yesterday, the NDP said “we have written to the Electoral Commission asking them to rescind their otherwise unlawful decision.”
The leadership of the party re-assured its numerous supporters and the general public that the party is doing everything in its power to overturn the disqualification of their flag-bearer for the December 2012 elections.
“This unfortunate and unlawful disqualification flouted the constitution of Ghana, the Electoral Commission’s own regulations on elections and, above all, international Human Rights Laws on the right to political participation as enshrined in the International Covenant on Civic and Political Rights, which Ghana has since ratified.
“We wish to state in no uncertain terms that we will fight tooth and nail to avert the possible disenfranchisement of all our supporters whose choice for the next president of Ghana is Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings.”
Plot
The NDP also said it has uncovered a plot by some top personalities from an unnamed political party going round the country to use financial and material inducements to influence its leading members to defect from the party.
The executive of the party claimed they have various tape recordings from four regions in which a high profile government official was asking NDP members to leave their account numbers for money to be deposited into them.
“Indeed, all these go to confirm the assertion of former President Jerry John Rawlings that there is deep seated corruption among political office holders,” the statement indicated, whilst hinting that “in the coming days, we will release these recordings to the media for Ghanaians to know what type of people are seeking their mandate.”