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EC’s disqualification of Joana Cudjoe mischievous and disingenuous – NDC
The Head of Legal Affairs of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Edudzie Tamekloe, has described the Electoral Commission’s (EC) decision to disqualify the party’s parliamentary candidate for the Amenfi Central as mischievous and disingenuous.
Edudzie Tamekloe told Citi Breakfast Show host, Bernard Avle that the EC’s basis for the “disqualification is mind-boggling” because it was a party to an interlocutory injunction against the candidate, Joana Gyan Cudjoe’s election in the May 12 primary.
“The basis of the disqualification is the purported interlocutory injunction from the High Court in Sekondi which is extremely mischievous because clearly, the EC at all material times, was a party to the suit in the Sekondi Court,” he said.
According to him,“Each time we appeared before the judge in Sekondi, there was a representative for the EC and so the proceedings were known to the EC. When we annulled that election and decided to rerun it, they came to supervise the election and so for Samuel Tettey to refer to the injunction [in the disqualification] is completely disingenuous.”
An October 10 letter signed by the Deputy Chairman of the EC in charge of Operations, Samuel Tettey, informed Gyan Cudjoe of her disqualification, stating that the Commission is bound by the court order, which has neither been stayed nor vacated.
The NDC’s legal head also accused the EC of taking sides in the matter and disqualifying Joana from its volution:.
“When the EC opened filing, the party presented Joana as its nominee and thereafter, there was an indication that there was going to be the printing of the notice of poll, which was delayed and so we made enquiries and wrote a letter to the plaintiff and we thought this matter had ended, but on October 10, Samuel Tettey wrote a letter disqualifying Joana,” he added.
He concluded, “The EC cannot act like an octopus and move everywhere looking to disqualify a candidate whose election it supervised.”
source: Citinewsroom.com
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Afenyo Markin criticises Police over handling of Abronye’s case
The Minority Leader in Parliament, Alexander Afenyo Markin has raised concerns about the handling of the arrest and detention of Bono Regional Chairman of the New Patriotic Party (NPP), Kwame Baffoe, also known as Abronye.
According to him, the police invited Abronye on Monday, September 8, and he honoured the invitation with his lawyers.
He said Abronye submitted himself to interrogation but, within an hour, was taken into the custody of the National Intelligence Bureau (NIB).
The Minority Leader questioned why the police, who were investigating the case and had their own holding cells, decided to send someone being investigated for a misdemeanor to the NIB.
He intimated that checks confirmed that the NIB was not investigating or interrogating Abronye, but had only kept him because the police requested it.
He wondered whether the move was meant to punish Abronye, stressing that the police detained him the whole of Monday night and Tuesday morning, before presenting him to court on 9th September.
The Minority Leader added that in court, the police asked for Abronye to be remanded to allow further investigations, and the judge granted the request.
He however described it as unfortunate that the police handcuffed Abronye when he was leaving the court.
By: Jacob Aggrey
News
Power Is like an ice block, it melts from day one – Afenyo-Markin warns
The Minority Leader in Parliament, Alexander Afenyo-Markin, has urged political leaders to learn from past mistakes and handle power with caution.
Speaking at the Accra Circuit Court for Abronye DC proceedings, Afenyo-Markin admitted that governments in the past, including his own side, had made mistakes and were not perfect.
He warned that if such mistakes were repeated, the country could be heading in the wrong direction.
He pointed to the removal of a former Chief Justice as an example, saying a report was prepared even before a committee hearing was completed.
According to him, such actions make it difficult to control extremists and hardliners in Ghana’s politics.
The Minority Leader stressed that power is temporary and must be exercised responsibly.
“Power is like an ice block, When it’s given to you, it starts to melt from the very day,” he noted.
By: Jacob Aggrey
