Failed presidential hopeful, Marricke Kofi Gane, is disappointed with the High Court for dismissing his case challenging his disqualification from the 2020 polls.
Mr. Gane said the court failed to give tangible reasons for throwing out his case.
“The judgement was given today. It was quite disappointing in my view for a good number of reasons. There were a few things that the judge put out which were quite shocking. One of them was we delayed in bringing the matter to court.”
“Meanwhile we are not the registrar of the court. We do not control how fast or slow the court process is and so to roll that on us is a real disappointment,” he said on Eyewitness News.
Mr. Gane was disqualified by the Electoral Commission for allegedly forging signatures of persons who endorsed his nomination forms.
A statement from Mr. Gane’s further expressed disagreement with the ruling, saying it “offers no protection to parliamentary and presidential aspirants against EC should it go beyond the excesses of its powers or discretion.”
“This is not about me or the Gane4Ghana agenda – it could be you tomorrow. It is based on this flagrant disregard for the rule of natural justice and fundamental procedural rights that we believe this ruling is a slap in the face of Ghana’s democratic credentials and would have dire consequences in future electoral processes as the EC is being erroneously clothed with powers and discretions beyond its needs,” it added.
Mr. Gane had prayed the court to quash the Electoral Commission’s decision on the basis that his right to natural justice was breached when the EC failed to provide an opportunity for him to rectify alleged errors on his forms.
The Criminal Court 2 Division of the High Court presided over by Her Ladyship, Elfreda Amy Dankyi however noted that the EC did no wrong since the errors constituted a case of fraud and that puts Mr. Gane in a position where he lacked any rights to be protected.
Her ladyship Elfreda Denkyi further ruled that the reliefs sought by Mr. Gane could not also be accepted because he filed the suit ten days after the disqualification was announced.
The judge explained that the delay in filing the suit tilted the balance of convenience towards the EC and that granting the reliefs will mean the EC may breach the constitutional provision of holding elections on December 7 which is seven days away.
Kofi Koranteng’s disqualification case against EC dismissed
The High Court in a similar manner dismissed independent candidate, Kofi Koranteng’s claims against the Electoral Commission.
Mr. Koranteng went to court to challenge the Electoral Commission’s decision to disqualify him from the 2020 presidential poll.
He had told the court that the Commission gave him a window of opportunity to re-submit the defective portions of his nomination forms; which he took and re-submitted on October 14, 2020.
He, therefore, expected that the Commission would have given him a fair and reasonable treatment as mandated by article 23 of the 1992 Constitution.
The court, presided over by Her Ladyship Gifty Addo on Monday, November 30, 2020, found that Mr. Koranteng by his own admission had committed infractions in the process and that the Electoral Commission had not acted unreasonably.
His case was therefore dismissed.
