Amoo Wins Moral Victory In Fight For Seat

Accra,(Greater Accra Region) 15 Oct. A High Court in Accra today struck out a motion for stay of proceedings filed by the Attorney General (AG) in the Wuogon constituency election case. Mr. George Amoo, the New Patriotic Party (NPP) candidate for the Ayawaso West (Wuogon) constituency in the last elections, is seeking to reverse the results which declared Mrs. Rebecca Adotey of the National Democratic Congress MP for the area. The motion was filed by the AG following an appeal he made against the decision of the court made last August that the AG cannot represent the EC because there might be a conflict of interest. The court's action followed an application for leave for the withdrawal of AG's motion, put in by Mr. Johnny Quarshie-Idun, counsel for the Electoral Commission (EC). The court presided over by Mrs. Justice Agnes Dordzie, upheld the application and accordingly struck out the motion and adjourned proceedings to October 21, for hearing of the substantive case. Giving reasons for the application, Mr. Quarshie-Idun said his instructions are that the EC had before the filing of the writ by Mr. Amoo, admitted there were errors in the collation of the votes cast in the constituency. Counsel said the EC therefore wanted an independent position to ensure fairness and justice in the matter. Mr. Amoo in his statement of claim, is asking the court to declare him as the winner because he had the highest votes cast in his favour. He contends that there was a mix in the tabulation of the results by the electoral officers which resulted in his results being added to that of Mrs. Adotey. The EC had agreed that there might have been an error in the addition of the results and was to be represented by the A-G's Department but the NPP objected. The NPP said since the A-G as an active member of the National Democratic Congress (NDC) on whose ticket Mr. Adotey contested the election, they could not hope for a fair trial. The NPP also said that since the EC is an autonomous body it should be represented by an independent counsel and not the state. This has led to the hiring of Mr. Quarshie by the EC.