Court Restrains Electoral Commission

Koforidua (Eastern Region), 23 Oct.,

A Koforidua high court has restrained the Eastern Regional Director of the Electoral Commission from taking any action on a vote of no confidence by some members of the New Juabeng Municipal Assembly against the Municipal Chief Executive, Mr. Emmanuel Adu Boateng. This followed an ex-parte motion by five members of the assembly filed at the court yesterday. They are Mr. Yaw Doe, Mr. A. K. Ahmed, Mr. A.A. Mohammed, Mr. Kwamena Acheampong and Mr. S. K. Nontwiri. The court, presided over by Mr. Omari Sasu, directed that copies of the order be served on the regional electoral director and the presiding member of the assembly. The applicants' supporting affidavit for leave to issue a writ of prohibition against the electoral commission seeks to restrain the commission from holding any election on account of the ''vote of no confidence'' passed against the municipal chief executive. The applicants argued that a cardinal condition needed to be fulfilled before the passing of the resolution against the chief executive was not met for it to be dispatched to the regional electoral officer. They contended that six out of the 23 signatories to the resolution later withdrew their signatures, thus reducing the signatories to 17. This number falls short of the one-third of the total number of members of the house required by the standing orders to support the resolution. The applicants, therefore, asked the court to grant them leave which should operate as a stay of proceedings contemplated by the electoral commission until the substantive application seeking to nullify the vote of no confidence before the court is disposed of. The controversy between some members of the assembly and the municipal chief executive followed allegations he made that some assembly members had diverted building materials intended for community projects in their areas.