Lawyer Isaac Minta Larbi, representing the NDC’s parliamentary candidate for Fanteakwa North, Haruna Apaw Wiredu, has announced plans to cite the Electoral Commission (EC) for contempt.
This follows a controversial development after an injunction and writ of summons were served to prevent the EC from redeclaring the results of the Fanteakwa North parliamentary election.
According to Lawyer Larbi, the declaration made in Accra by a so-called deputy returning officer today was unlawful, as it was not authorized by law.
He argued that only the official Returning Officer, as empowered by the law, has the legal right to declare the results of the election.
Lawyer Larbi further emphasized that if the NPP candidate, Kwame Appiah Kodua, disagreed with the declaration, his only legal option was to challenge it in court—not to have a re-declaration by a deputy returning officer.
On December 10, 2024, the official Returning Officer, Zacharia Adams, declared Haruna Apaw Wiredu the winner of the Fanteakwa North parliamentary election, securing 11,138 votes, ahead of Kwame Appiah Kodua’s 10,847 votes. The total valid votes cast were 21,985 out of 22,566, with 581 rejected ballots. However, NPP agents were reportedly absent when the pink sheet was signed.
Despite this, on December 12, a deputy returning officer, acting in Tesano, Accra, declared Kwame Appiah Kodua as the winner with 11,751 votes, surpassing Haruna Apaw Wiredu’s 11,297 votes.
Lawyer Larbi, who also serves as the Eastern Regional Director of Legal Affairs for the NDC, asserts that the actions of the EC amount to contempt of court and is prepared to take legal action accordingly.
He said as it stands Haruna Apaw Wiredu is the duly declared MP-elect
Source: Mybrytfmonline.com/Obed Ansah
